The Only Exception
by MadAsAHatter0991
Summary: Alice left Wonderland with the intention of never returning. She fears Hatter is still upset with her. But, what happens when her 22-year-old daughter falls down the rabbit hole and relives her "dream" all over again?/ SEQUEL INCLUDED
1. Chapter 1

**[This takes place at the very end of the Alice in Wonderland, 2010 movie. This has Alice in Wonderland characters. Leilani, Elizabeth, and their brother are created by me]**

_Alice took the vile of putrid liquid. The blood from the beast she had slain was a purple color and smelled of rotten fruit along with smoke. Alice lifted her sword and struck the beast yet again, slicing him right in the middle of his head. Her Queen looked at her, wondering why she did such a thing when the beast had already been defeated. She already decapitated him, what more did she want? Alice turned to her and smirked, embarrassed at her behavior in front of the Queen. _

"_Anger, I suppose." She spoke. The Queen smiled her beautiful smile, her hands in midair as though they were levitating on their own. She twirled around and hummed softly to herself. _

"_You do know what this is for, do you not?" The Queen asked. Alice thought about it. She was about to devour the blood of this beast without even knowing what it would and could possibly do to her. _

"_I don't." She admitted. The Queen chuckled softly and sighed._

"_If you wish to go home, you may drink this. If you wish to stay, then you can toss it away." She explained. Alice looked around at everyone. She saw the Tweedles, who were frowning, unable to decide whether she was going to stay or leave. It seemed like everyone was revolving around her, waiting for her decision as though it would change the kingdom forever on end. And then she saw him, Tarrant. He was frowning at her. His usual lime green eyes were a dull gray. She took two steps towards him. _

"_You don't have to go." He spoke. She stared at him, a slight smile curving upon her lips. As she saw his smile, his cute, adorable gap-toothed smile, she chuckled a little, a tear rolling from her eye. His smile faded slowly. _

"_I possibly can't. My family…I have family back home." She spoke softly, placing a hand on his shoulder._

"_You'll forget me completely." He assured her. Alice blinked at his accusation._

"_Me? Forget you? Why would I? Hatter, you're my dearest friend." She said, placing both hands to his cheeks, looking into his eyes. Hatter's cheeks grew an odd rosy color and she smiled. Looking at the vile, she knew what she had to do. She unraveled the top and sniffed the liquid another time. _

"_Alice?" Asked Hatter. The blonde girl turned to him and nodded._

"_Yes? What is it?" _

"_Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" He asked. That same "riddle", if you wish to call it that, tampered with her all along her journey in Wonderland. She chuckled a little and shook her head, her blue eyes twinkling as the day was nearing its end. Her blonde curls flowed with her at her head movement, making Hatter look deeper into her soul than ever before. He blushed ever so slightly and cleared his throat. _

"_I haven't a clue," She spoke in a whisper, as though she were ashamed of not knowing. "Why, do you?"_

_Hatter leaned in, grinning his toothy grin. "Neither do I," He said. They stared at each other for a few moments. Alice felt her cheeks grow hot. She didn't want to leave him, nor Underland. She wanted to stay, but she just couldn't. She made a distasteful facial expression and downed all of the blood, shaking her head at the awful taste. Tarrant hesitated. He knew that this was his chance…his __**only **__chance. He leaned forward to give her a quick kiss but the only action coming from his mouth were the Scottish words: "fairfarren, Alice." Before it seemed like she dissolved into a cloudy black smoke. He sighed heavily, lowering his head and turning to his friends. _

"_Now, now, Tarrant, need not fret, she'll come again. I can assure you that." The White Queen spoke. Tarrant nodded his head slowly and feigned a smile._

"_I suppose you are right." Said the hatter as his fingers touched the brim of his overly large top hat. The only thought crossing his mind- "Alice". _

**-2 years later-**

_Alice stared down upon her engagement ring as it shined on her finger. She sighed heavily, a sense of pain in her stomach. She didn't want this. She did not wish to be married. Marriage was just a bunch of nonsense to her. She didn't believe in love in that manner. She loved music, and nature, and people, but she certainly didn't love Hamish, the one man she was forced to marry…by her dearest mother. She sat on the bench in the large garden of Hamish's house. Her two "friends" trailed behind her and sat across from her. They looked at nothing except the ring dazzling on her slim finger. _

"_That certainly is a beautiful ring." Said Frances. Frances was married, and for such a young age, she had four kids already. She got married when she was fifteen. _

"_Thank you, Frances." Alice nodded._

"_How many carats? George got about 14 carats on this bad boy, right here. Says it's made in Italy. He knows how much I'd love to go to Italy. I do say, Alice, have you ever been to Italy?" Asked Lillian. It was very hard for Alice to keep track of her words. Lillian was a fast-talking little thing, with long red hair and blue eyes as cold as the winter. They were full of jealously._

"_I'm not sure on the carats, and no, I have not been. I do know that our honeymoon is definitely out of the question. Mother just wants me to be his wife, get things over and done with, and that's it. No happiness, just marriage for the extra land. I don't want to be held with someone I don't care one lick about! Do you know what it feels like to be married to someone you don't love at all?" Alice asked them both. The two young women just grinned at her and nodded. They both picked out things they loved about their husband, and took it from there. Nothing more, nothing less. Frances only liked her husband's silky black hair, and Lillian? Well, Alice was not sure if there's anything she liked about Lawrence. _

"_You know you must have children, right? If not, then there will not be an heir nor an heiress." Lillian spoke up._

_Alice blinked and blushed. The thought of her and Hamish making love just did not add up right. It's like having chocolate cake with three types of chocolate and having the sweetest drink afterwards. Normally, what would happen to most, would be an aching stomach. Just like her and Hamish having children…it's bound to go wrong, probably._

"_What if I don't want kids?" Alice asked. Lillian and Frances looked at each other and then back to her._

"_Oh you will," Frances said, toying with her hair. "There's not a doubt on that."_

_Alice, having heard enough, wanted to leave the gardens to go inside. She was taking a break from her whole wedding issue, but she sat, looking off, utterly bored. She saw some rustling in the bushes and sat up quickly. _

"_Did you see that?" She asked, pointing to the bush. The two girls looked at her._

"_See what?"_

"_Something's in the bushes." She said._

_They stared, trying to see what she saw, but it had stopped. _

"_Alice! Come in now! We have to measure you!" Called Hamish's mother. Alice sighed and shook her head slowly. Frances and Lillian stood, but Alice heard the rustling more than ever now. _

"_Aren't you coming?" Lillian asked. _

"_I'm waiting for the rabbit." Alice spoke. The two girls looked confused._

"_Do you wish to catch it? Is it of disturbance?" Asked Frances. Alice shook her head quickly._

"_What would you say if I told you this rabbit has a coat and a pocket watch?" She asked._

"_Have you gone mad? That's completely deranged, what you said." Lillian spoke up. _

_Alice rolled her eyes. "I'm just saying. You two go on. I'm staying." She shoved them off. _

_The two girls shuffled off to the house and as soon as they left, the rabbit appeared. _

"_Alice! Hurry, now." Said the rabbit. Alice stood up, trying to recognize where she's seen him from. He tapped his pocket watch and hopped off. _

_Alice frowned. "Who's to say that I must go?" She asked._

"_Underland is in DANGER. Surely you must know this? Since two years ago, the Red Queen escaped and now she's causing destruction amongst all of the White Queen's nation!" He said, hopping around. Clearly he was antsy._

"_Alice! Where are you, child?" Called Hamish's mother._

"_I'm coming! I just lost my necklace," She lied. The rabbit grinned and the name popped into her head. "Aha, you're the White Rabbit, aren't you?" _

_He looked appalled. "Don't tell me you forgot about us!" _

"_I didn't." Alice lied through her teeth. She forgot everyone, everything…well, almost everyone. _

"_Come now." He said._

"_I refuse!" _

_He hopped to her, took one good jump, and snatched her ring off her finger._

"_If you want this beauty back, you need to follow me." He trailed off._

"_Come back!" Alice said, tears forming in her eyes. She hated losing valuable possessions. She dashed after the rabbit, hoping to pounce on him and retrieve it back. She didn't realize it until she came to a tree trunk, falling into the large gaping rabbit hole beneath it. _

_She screamed, falling for what seemed like hours. She hit a bed on the way down, making her bounce off and start falling more. She hit the "floor", falling what seemed like upward and hitting the actual floor once more. Now it started getting familiar to her. _

_She walked around in the small house-like structure, drinking liquids and eating cake. She trotted from place to place, finally seeing the rabbit and chasing after him for a good while. She grew tired and appeared at a large black dilapidated house, but there were clearly still residents. The rabbit slowly stopped and she picked him up, retrieving her ring. She placed it on her finger and walked towards the table, seeing a rabbit, a small mouse, and a man sitting at the head of the table, his arms crossed in front of him as he hung his head down low. It grew quiet once the mouse recognized her._

"_Alice?" he asked. _

_The man slowly raised his head, revealing green lively eyes, wild orange hair, and odd, but creative clothes. He stood up and ran towards her._

"_Alice? You've come back to help Underland defeat the Queen yet again?" he asked, taking her in his arms, hugging her tightly and spinning her around. She patted his shoulders._

"_Put me down." She ordered. He stopped and did as he was told._

"_So are you?"_

"_Am I what?"_

"_Silently planning a way to defeat her?" _

"_Why is this so important?" She asked. His eyes grew aquamarine._

"_Because without your help, we could all die." He spoke. She stared at them all._

"_Uhm, Mr. Hatter, I'm sure you'll do fine without me. Honestly, I don' think-" she started, until Tarrant stopped her._

"_Mr. Hatter? It's as if you do not know me. Have you forgotten me?" He asked her._

_She stared into his eyes, unable to be nice and lie or tell him the flat truth._

"_Of course not, Terrance…Tarrant." She corrected herself. His eyes grew red._

"_You said you wouldn't forget me, and you have. You shouldn't make promises that you can't keep, Alice. It'll come back to haunt you in the future, surely you understand that? Me nation is being destroyed by the bloody big head and all you can do is ignore us?" His thick Scottish accent made her remember everything._

"_I swear I didn't forget anyone." She said, trying to calm him down. But it was too late. He noticed the band on her finger, and grabbed her wrist tightly, studying it. _

"_Aye, but that's the beauty of it all, isn't it, love? Especially this ring, you got there. Married? Children, too, I suppose?" He asked._

"_Hatter, you're hurting me." She said, trying to break free of his grip._

"_Hurting YOU? Me, hurting you? Why would I do such a thing like that when just by the show of this ring, you're happily living your dream life, and I'm here thinking about you, waiting for you to come back so that maybe one day I could be this lucky man? Tell me now, who's really hurt?" He asked, his grip getting tighter. She let out a yelp of pain._

"_Tarrant!" She said, breaking free. She studied it, and looked up at Tarrant who's eyes were red. _

"_Care to join us for some tea?" He asked, walking to the table, picking up a tea cup and throwing it in her direction. She dodged it and ran, being hit by teacups. _

-22 years later-

I could hear mother and father arguing yet again. I didn't know how they did it, staying together all these years. They didn't love each other, and father had around three mistresses. He'd come home, intoxicated from parties, and claim that mother was the only woman in his life. Though we all knew that was a lie, she was still flattered and still stayed with him. She couldn't leave, anyhow. Only he could say where the marriage was going, and she couldn't put her word in it, unless he asked, which was NEVER.

"We need to move!" Mother shouted.

"Jacob needs to find a suitable wife! We shall not leave." Father spoke up. Their consistent arguing would always invade in my privacy and personal studies.

"But we must! I told you about the dreams I've had. They're coming back! Something's going to happen near the rabbit hole in the backyard." She warned. I heard two smacks, and it was quiet.

"Now you listen to me, I told you we are not moving until Jacob finds a wife, is that clear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Mother spoke softly. I shook my head slowly. 'yes, sir'. Ha! No one will dare hear me say those words to my husband, no matter if he's good to me or not.

"That's what I thought." He said. I sighed, burying my face into my pillow and looking out the window.

Why must we never go into our backyard? There was something mother didn't want us to see. I opened my window, with the full intention of jumping out and investigating. Yet, when I opened my window, I saw a rabbit, pointing at his pocket watch.

I gasped, blinking a few times to see if this was really happening. Rabbits don't wear coats, nor do they have pocket watches. It was still there, hopping towards me. I closed the window quickly, laying on my bed, trying to convince myself that that wasn't possible.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up, feeling pressure on my chest. I opened my eyes, seeing my little sister with her hands on my chest, leaning forward to look into my eyes.

"Lizzy!" I called, aggravated.

"Mum's gone mad." She said, shakily. The little eleven-year-olds eyes were fighting back tears. I jumped to my feet, and walking out to hear loud crashes on the floor.

"Alice!" Called father. "Please calm down!"

"Not unless we move! I saw it last night! A rabbit with a waist coat, it was. A pocket watch, too!" She stammered.

Our maid tried keeping us back but I rejected and went into the kitchen as well.

"You've gone mad!" He yelled.

"I swear, Hamish," she spoke, walking to her husband and dropping to her knees, holding his hands. "I'm not crazy."

He snatched his hands away from her and walked off to make a call. This wasn't good at all. I went over to mother, who was on the kitchen floor crying and holding herself. I bent down by her side and cradled her in my arms.

"I saw it, too." I spoke softly into her ear. She stopped crying and looked up at me. I didn't know why she was so afraid of this place, but it scared me to realize she hated it so.

"Tell your father."

"But-" I started.

"Tell him," She bellowed at me. "So that if more than one person knows about this, it won't make me seem like the only one."

My brother, who was younger than me by two years looked at us and shook his head. He had mother's blonde hair and blue eyes, whereas Lizzy and I had our father's orange hair. She had his eyes, I had green ones.

"Women, all emotion and NO logic, whatsoever." He said. I left mother and walked to him.

"You're foul! You're a right foul git, do you know that?"

"Because you're crazy, I'm foul?" he asked. I smacked him across the face.

"You don't know what we're experiencing." I yelled. Our maid tried to calm me down but I raised my hand, again, slapping him once more.

"Leilani, stop!" called Lizzy.

"Elizabeth go to your room." I spoke. There was a knock at the door and the maid went to go get it. Father came marching back out and looked at us all. It was silent. Mother sat up, sobbing uncontrollably now.

"They're coming for you." He spoke, pointing at mother.

"Who?" I asked.

"They're taking your mother to an asylum." He said. He must have been relieved to get rid of her after all these years. But I'll be damned if I were to be taken care of by my dead-beat of a father and one of his mistresses. I could leave any time I wanted to, I figured. I'm the oldest, I'm twenty-two, why can't I? But I looked at Liz, who was on her way up the stairs.

"If mother leaves, then I'll leave." I spoke.

Father looked at me and smacked me across the face.

"You stay until you find a suitable husband, not run off and marry some lowlander out there." He said.

"Your mistresses will be no mother to me, nor Lizzy, so I'll take her with me."

"You'll do no such thing. I'm a lord, I can claim you kidnapped her, easily like that." He said. I bit my lower lip and looked at mother and back to him.

"Mother's not lying. She's not crazy. I saw the rabbit also."

He growled a little and grabbed my shoulders, slamming me into the back of the wall.

"Then I shall make another call, and tell them my oldest child is going, too." He said. There was a faint "ahem" and we all turned our heads, seeing a judge standing there with his hat in one hand, his coat draping over the other.

"Is this a bad time, Hamish?" he asked. Father let go of me and put his arm around me, pretending to be nice.

"Not at all, sir." Father lied.

I broke free of father's grasp and ran up to my room, along with Liz. It was a matter of time before father started arguing with the judge, talking about his personal life. The judge wasn't too happy at the way he was treating me and mother, so he threatened to do something about it, very soon at that.

2 months later –

It's been two months since mother was taken away to the asylum. Father had instantly replaced her, with one of his mistresses, and replaced me as well, of course. They had a daughter together, a love-child, if you wish. Her name was Abigail and she was fifteen. She loved the idea of marriage and was very charming, polite, and beautiful. I didn't have a problem with her…until she started being awfully mean to Lizzy. I waited by the window, seeing the carriage arrive for us. I was being sent away with my sister, to go live with our aunt.

Elizabeth cried while hugging me tightly.

"I don't want to go." She said.

"We must, it's better than here." I assured her.

"No, I can't go." She shook her head.

"Girls!" Called our uncle from outside. I picked up both of our bags and walked down the stairs, passing my father, Abigail, my brother and my father's mistress. They didn't have anything to say to us, so I didn't say a word to them either. Father walked up behind me and placed his hand on my shoulder. I looked at Elizabeth who had stopped as well.

"Get in the carriage." I said to her. She nodded and hurried to it, climbing in. I turned to my father.

"You look just like your mother, minus the blue eyes, of course, and blonde hair. You have my stubborn personality." He spoke.

"I'm not stubborn."

"It's showing right now." He chuckled. I rolled my eyes and looked back at him.

"Is there something you'd like to tell me, Hamish?" I asked. I no longer considered him my father, after he sent me and my sister away, for no reason at all. He was mad because I was the first born, instead of precious Jacob, the middle child.

"I'm doing this because I love you. You just don't understand." He said. The nerve of him.

"You send my mother away to replace us all. But, people are going to ask questions, and you'll be frowned upon. You're right, I'll never understand, but I do know that you're no father of mine, and you're a no good man who doesn't deserve his title as "lord" nor does he deserve happiness, Hamish."

He blinked his eyes. He wanted to yell at me but he refrained. He was too scared of what I'd do, probably. "Is that what you think?" he asked.

"No, not exactly," I said. He cocked his head to the side a bit, wondering what exactly I meant. I raised my hand, slapping him across his right cheek and then slapping him across the left. "That's what I meant." I trotted off, putting the bags in the carriage with us, getting inside, and closing the door. I had a slight grin on my face, but I was still curious. Why was there a rabbit with clothes on? This didn't add up, and all because of some kind of secret in our backyard.

We were riding for an hour, soon arriving at my aunt's house. It was nice and all, but she started talking about how we weren't allowed past our gates. I laid in my new room that night, hearing Elizabeth's faint cries in the next room. Then it popped in my head. I couldn't live here. I placed my hand to the wall where the noise form Elizabeth was coming from. Though she couldn't hear, nor see me, I kissed the wall and spoke the words: "I love you" to her, just before making my escape. I opened the window, hopping out and into the bushes. I panted heavily running at full speed back to my old home. I ran for what seemed like minutes, rested against a tree and slid down it, tears streaming down my face.

"No!" I banged hard on the grass. I turned around to my aunt's house, seeing the lights sprint on. I picked myself up, running faster yet again. I saw my house just up ahead after minutes of running. I wiped my eyes, my legs giving out once I was in my backyard yet again. I fell on the grass, tumbling forward and falling down a hole of some sort.


	3. Chapter 3

I was poked by something large and cold. I sat up, seeing a mouse, a rabbit, and two boys standing by me. They were all looking at me, studying my appearance as though I looked as odd as they did.

"Who is she?" They whispered to each other.

I looked at them all. "That's not the question right now. I'm concerned as to where I am."

"You're in Underland." Said the rabbit, the same rabbit with the waistcoat and pocket watch.

"Under what?" I asked.

"Underland, what are you doing here?" asked the mouse. I looked down at it.

"I ran away from my aunt's house." I explained.

"What do we do to her?" Asked one boy.

"Do we make her eat the cake and drink the liquid?" Asked the other.

A cat dissolved and appeared right in front of my face, levitating. I gasped, moving to a corner in the room I was in, my heart beating in my chest.

"I say we take her to the white queen. She knows everything." He spoke.

"No, we must take her to the red queen. She could be an enemy." Said the mouse.

"She might be powerful! She can do well on our side."

Before I knew it, everyone was talking at the same time.

"SHUT IT," I bellowed. They all quieted down and looked at me. "Who are all of you?"

"We're the Tweedles. Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum." Said the twins.

"I'm the White Rabbit. But please, call me McTwisp." The rabbit spoke, glancing at his pocket watch.

"And I'm Dormouse!"

"Well aren't you cute," I grinned, picking it up. "You don't bite, do you?"

"See for yourself!" It spoke, taking out its sword. I dropped it immediately.

The cat appeared on my lap. "And I'm Cheshire. Call me Chess." He spoke, grinning widely at me. I felt uneasy around him.

"So, where are you all taking me?" I asked, concerned.

They all started talking yet again. The cat looked at them all and cleared his throat, speaking up.

"To the Hatter, formally known as Tarrant Hightopp." He spoke.

Everyone turned to him in silence.

"That was my next suggestion." Tweedle-dee tried to convince us all, but we knew he was lying.

"To the Hatter!" cried Dormouse as it lifted its tiny sword in the air.

We walked along the forest. Everyone was trying to show me the way, but I was pleasantly sight-seeing along the way. How could anyone dare leave a place like this just to find me?

"What is your name, girl?" Asked McTwisp.

"Leilani, Leilani Ascot." I spoke softly.

We walked until we reached a clear spot, seeing a long table full of food and teas. A rabbit, shaking while drinking was sitting on the side while a man sat on the end of the table, his head lowered as he held his hands close to his chest.

"Hatter! Hatter!" They called to him. He looked up slowly, a grin pressing across his face as he gazed upon all of us.

"You've brought along a guest," He said, walking to us. He grabbed my hand, looking into my eyes and kissing it softly. "How do you do?"

"Fine, thank you." I nodded to him. He seemed to have froze, his eyes fixated on me. I tried looking away but his eyes would follow. He had wild orange hair, a large top hat, pale skin, and what seemed to be neon green eyes.

"Tarrant, you can let go of the young lady now," Cheshire teased. He cleared his throat. "This is Leilani Ascot."

"Pleasure to meet you, Leilani Ascot."

I chuckled a little and took my hand away.

"She's here." McTwisp said, shining his pocket-watch with a handkerchief.

"Who's here?" The Hatter asked.

"This is her." They all said. He looked from them to me, his giddy face slowly turned into dullness.

"You mean, this is Alice's daughter?" He asked.

"We've been trying to tell you that." Tweedle-dum spoke.

Tarrant looked at me, his eyes glowing red.

"You're the daughter of Alice, eh? You shouldn't have brought her here. If her mother betrayed us, who's to say she won't do the same?" He spoke in an absurd Scottish accent.

"Tarrant, be reasonable. I believe she can help Underland." McTwisp spoke in my defense.

"I'll tell you what help she can do. She can help us lose and that's it. The Queen won't approve of this." Tarrant said, walking, walking back to his seat, sitting down hard. I walked towards him.

"Don't underestimate me. I can do more than you think, depending on what it is. Now don't get your abnormally large hat in a twist, pal, because I don't tolerate this kind of nonsense from anyone. Underestimate me and you force me to prove you wrong." I said to him. I poked his chest hard. He stood up, towering over me by two or three inches.

"I'm a hatter, I spend a great deal of time making hats. I have a gift, yours is pure betrayal. You can honestly say that we can count on you to be dishonest and turn your back on us. Perhaps you are useful. A hostage maybe?" He grinned widely, his eyes still glowing.

"You wouldn't dare." I narrowed my eyes.

"You are not wanted here. Leave, now." He ordered. I shook my head.

"I refuse! Why should I?"

"Leilani, it's best if you DO leave. You don't know what he's capable of." Said Dormouse. I shrugged my shoulders.

"A real man wouldn't hurt a lady. So I shouldn't be scared at all." I admitted. I turned, facing him, seeing him pick up a tea cup, crushing it with his bare hand. He lifted another and tossed it at me. I turned to run, but it hit the back of my head, making me fall and black out.

"You've done it big, Tarrant." I heard Chess speak.

"It was by accident." He spoke. I opened my eyes slowly, seeing Chess and Tarrant hovering over me. I jumped, getting from the pale blue couch I was on.

"Stay back, I'm warning you!" I said, putting my fists up.

"I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." He said. His normally green eyes were a deep blue. I shook my head.

"You hurt me." I said, backing into a wall. He took off his hat.

"I didn't mean to, like I said." A woman from behind him opened the door as he tried stepping closer.

"Hatter!" She called. He turned around and bowed, putting his hat to his chest.

"Yes, my Queen?" he asked.

"Leave her," She said. He backed away, letting her walk towards me, holding my arm. "Hello, Leilani. I've waited for you." She smiled at me.

"And who are you?" I asked, taking my arm from her.

"I'm the White Queen. I'm sure you've met almost everybody, right?" She asked.

"Am I still in Underland?"

"Yes, in my castle." She nodded.

"What is this about betrayal…and how do you know my mother?"

"She came to us when she was around your age. Nineteen, I believe. She helped slay the Jabberwocky and saved my kingdom." She smiled. Her arms seemed to levitate in the air. She was beautiful, with white-blonde hair and a pleasant smile on her face. It all started to make sense now.

"So that's why…" I trailed off.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing." I shook my head.

"So, I see there seemed to be some complications?" She asked, looking at Tarrant a little. He looked away from us both.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." I said, though the back of my head still ached.

"Good, now, we shall continue. After your mother had refused to help us with Underland, everything went haywire. Society has been corrupt and my sister, the Red Queen, escaped and held hostage our baby brother, the prince," I saw a tear well up in her eye. But she contained herself. "Being that your mother has slain a beast before, possibly you can overthrow her kingdom by getting information?"

"You mean by spying?"

"Basically." She nodded.

"Sounds easy enough, I can do that." I smiled, nodding.

"You have your mother's spirits." She spoke.

"And her mother's intentions. Who's to say she won't turn to the other side, or leave?" Asked the hatter.

"My mother's intentions weren't to hurt your kingdom, Tarrant." I said.

"Where is your mother anyway? Sitting with her husband, being rich and soaking up everyone's attention?" He asked.

My eyes welled up with tears, remembering my mother.

"She's in an asylum. My father put her there when she tried telling him that she saw a rabbit in a waistcoat. He called her crazy."

"Bitter-sweet, isn't it, love?" He asked. I looked at him.

"What's wrong with you?" I said, storming out the room. I ran through the halls, passed her guests and out to the balcony, sitting on the bench in front of it. I held my face in my hands, sobbing. These were tears that were being held in for two months, two long months, to be exact. I heard slow footsteps coming from behind me. Figuring it was the queen, I stood up, wiping my tears away. I saw that it was the hatter, his eyes the same shade of blue.

"Leilani?" He asked.

"Oh God! What do you want now? Haven't you done enough? You insult me, my mother, and now you want me to forgive you? Plus, I have a headache and I don't need to hear you blabber about how my mother was a traitor." I sobbed while talking. He walked over to me, attempting to embrace me but I backed away.

"Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?" He asked softly.

I turned to him slowly. "You're mental! Wait, you're not even mental, you're mad." I said, running off from him.


	4. Chapter 4

It was not yet time for me to go undercover and be a spy for the White Queen. She considered me a guest in her castle, which was brilliant. These past two days seemed like the best I've ever had. I hadn't spoken a word to that darned Hatter since day 1. But, the embarrassing thing was that we bore strange resemblances to each other. He had pure orange hair, mine was like a dark orange, he had bright green eyes, mine were dark. I tried to be as ladylike as possible at dinner. Except, me and Tarrant were the only non-fancy ones there. He was in his usual odd attire, whereas I was in my black pants, my red shoes, and my red top.

"There is a ball tonight." The Queen spoke. Everyone looked up. Her guests all cheered and clapped happily, knowing they were already invited.

"You majesty, shall I bring the buttered fingers?" Asked a man with slicked back black hair.

"if you wish, Nathaniel, but this is set aside for Leilani." She spoke, pointing to me.

"Am I invited, too?" The Hatter asked in his soft voice.

"Of course, Tarrant, you too are invited."

He smiled to himself and waited for her to explain more.

I went to grab some bread and so did the hatter. Our hands touched and we looked at each other. He looked nervous, unaware as to if I were to say something rude to him or not. He blushed a little, picked up the bread basket with a slight grin, offering me some. I pushed it away gently and grabbed my glass of water, taking a sip. My hand was shaky now.

Why?

"Now, the word shall spread around quickly. It'll get to the Red Queen, who will send one of her men undercover to the party as well. Tarrant, from this point on, you are now officially in charge of looking after Leilani." She spoke. I nearly choked on my water.

"Your majesty, as much as I do appreciate you for being so careful of me, I do object to this. I feel it's highly unnecessary." I spoke.

"Chances are you can be killed by one or possibly more of these men. You need someone looking after you." She spoke. I turned to Tarrant, who was smiling just a little bit.

"What do I do while I confront them?" I asked.

The Queen cleared her throat and looked from Tarrant to me and decided to whisper: "possible charming" but I couldn't hear her, until she said it in a normal tone. Everyone was quiet. I could hear one of her guests give a slight chuckle.

"It's the only known way, Leilani." She spoke.

I took my glass and drank all of my water. I looked at them all.

"That's all you want me to do? What if it escalates to something bigger than that?"

"Do you accept or not?" Tarrant asked.

I felt the whole room getting hot. My cheeks grew rosy red.

"I…I," I started, not sure how to answer. "I need a moment."

I left the table and went out to the balcony yet again, looking out upon the dullness. It was quiet, without the trace of noise nor nonsense. I felt something wrap around my head and I turned around, seeing the hatter. He was measuring my head.

"Yes?" I asked.

"You need a hat for the ball." He grinned, showing that cute gap between his teeth.

"No thanks, I'm not so big on hats." I studied his. Such fine detail, so different and odd…I liked that.

"I've been considering words that start with the letter B. Bounty, beloved, bewildered, ball, betrayal." He spoke.

I looked at him and shook my head. "You still believe my mother betrayed you? I beg to differ, Tarrant. You're not seeing the big picture. You're not upset that my mother couldn't help Underland. You're upset that she married someone other than you. Admit it." I said to him.

He walked towards me, his face close to mine.

"Not even a little bit. That was over twenty years ago. I'm over it," He spoke. My breathing became uneasy when he was this close to me. I wasn't scared, nor did I fancy him that way…or so I had hoped. "You look just like your mother. Same facial features, other than your green eyes and blood orange hair." He raised his hand to my face. I heard footsteps and pushed his hand away.

"Leilani," the queen called. I turned to her. "It's time to get dressed." I nodded and she went back inside. I turned to Hatter.

"You loved my mother, didn't you?"

He sighed and walked to the bench, sitting down.

"I still do, Leilani, but not in the same sense as an infatuation. I'd love her as a friend if I saw her." He spoke.

I looked at him. His eyes turned to a deep blue.

"Hatter," I said. He turned to me. "I forgive you."

He grinned slightly, his eyes turning green. "You do?"

"Yes," I nodded. He seemed jovial but I sat down next to him. I took the hat from his head and placed it on mine. "And while we're at it, why don't you make me one of these?" I smiled, walking off. He chuckled.

"I'll be right on it, Leilani!" He called.

I nodded and threw his hat back to him, and headed off to get dressed. I was in nothing but light colors, and by that I meant pale blue. My hair was down and I had to wait two hours for the party to start, which was absurd.

~2 Hours Later~

*Tarrant/Mad Hatter's Point Of View*

I stood around, looking for the guards of the Red Queen. They were no where to be found. But I stopped looking when something else crossed my mind. It was the beautiful girl with orange hair walking down the stairs with the Queen, arm-in-arm. My heart must have skipped a beat, possibly two, as I saw her. And at that moment, I started considering things that started with L. Lillies, Love, Longevity, Lazy…Lovely, lovely Leilani. I shook my head just a little bit. I couldn't fall in love with her. I'd have to stand my ground and be aware of this one, for she was the daughter of Alice, our hero. Who's to say she won't betray us just like her forsaken mother? I walked towards her, looking into her green eyes. I felt my stomach get sick, but I tried controlling myself. Instead of greeting her, I went off to pour myself some tea, to calm my nerves.

As I was drinking, my back facing her, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I spun around on my heel, looking right into Leilani's eyes.

"Leilani, I have your hat upstairs. I figured it would give everything away if you were to wear it." I said to her. She giggled a little.

"That's what I was thinking." She nodded, holding out her hand.

"What?"

Her smile faded away slowly.

"I was hoping that you could escort me inside?" She asked. I nodded and set my cup on the table.

"Right, right." I nodded quickly, placing her hand on top of mine as we started inside.

"Do you see any of the Red Queen's men?" She asked me in a whisper.

I looked around and spotted a man with a small black heart on his chin, possibly trying to make it unnoticeable? Well it wasn't working.

"There's one." I whispered, pointing to him. The music played and she waltzed over to him. My natural instinct was to follow her, as I was following the Queen's wishes. But, I was only so far. The queen approached me and smiled.

"I see she's found him?" She asked.

I nodded in disgust. "Yeah, she's found him."

"Good, now after they exchange a few words, dance, he'll be charmed and take her back to the castle where they-"

"Take her where?" I asked loudly. Some people turned to look at me but I didn't care.

"Take her to the castle. How must she expect to retrieve information if she's no where near the sight?" the queen said. As much as she had a distinct point, I hated the idea greatly.

It was hours of them talking, and I was growing mad…madder, to be exact. I needed to take my mind off of things, and I didn't have a dance partner to show off with just like Leilani was with that git. The White Queen passed me by and I grabbed her wrist, placing my hand on her waist.

She looked at me. "Hatter, are you all right?"

I looked down at her. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Her eyes widened a little. "Your accent."

"What accent?" I asked, taking her to the center of the hall to dance with everyone else.

The whole time, I was confused on how to dance. I just needed a good excuse to be next to Leilani for a while, just to make sure everything was turning out as planned. As the Queen and I danced, she spun me around. I didn't see Leilani's curly orange locks anywhere. Instead, I saw her and the man walking out to the balcony. I dashed from the queen towards them, maintaining my composure to not make myself noticeable. I saw him bend down and kiss her on the lips. My blood boiled and I walked swiftly towards them, pulling him off of her and tossing him to the side, making him fall.

He fell flat on the floor and stood up, grinning slightly.

"Now I know." He said before dashing off.

Leilani turned to me.

"Hatter! You ruined everything!"

"He kissed you."

"If you wouldn't have intruded, he wouldn't have figured anything out." She said.

I lowered my head, my eyes turning blue.

"But-"

"No," She shook her head. She was panicking now. "I can't do anything to help her now."

I felt dizzy. I grabbed her shoulders, pulling her into a kiss. This would be the first time I'd kiss someone on the lips. She pulled away and looked at me, confusion on her face.

My heart wasn't beating fast like before. Why was this? I thought I would have had more of a reaction than this. Come on, there had to be something deep inside from kissing her. Not even a special tingly feeling crawling up my spine. No matter how hard I tried to make that happen…

Nothing

I tried digging deeper, thinking. But thinking wasn't the same as _feeling_.

Still, I felt nothing.

"I love you." I said to her, hoping that'd spike something up.

She frowned. "You don't know a thing about me." She spat, turning and marching off to her room. I had spoiled her day…and the plan, completely. What's going on with me?


	5. Chapter 5

*Leilani's POV*

I stood against my door, keeping the hatter out from entering my room. He knocked on the door. Wait…knocking? Ha! More like consistent banging, to be exact.

"Leilani, please open the door."

I sighed and walked from it, going to sit by the bench near the window. He came inside slowly and walked over to me.

"What is it that you desire now? A kiss?"

"An apology is my peace offering." He spoke softly. I turned to him.

"Why did you do it?" I asked. He looked at me.

"Kiss you?"

"Yeah."

He shrugged his shoulder. "I wanted to see how it felt, to kiss someone you'd really care for."

"But you don't know me." I said, trying to be calm.

He sat on the bench next to me. "Then allow me to get to know you." He spoke.

I looked into his eyes and blushed. I stood from my seat, walking towards my dresser, picking up a ribbon and tying it around my wrist.

"My mum and dad never got along. Always arguing, never loving me or my sister. I'm the oldest, twenty-two, shockingly," I joked. He grinned a little. "I was almost landed in the insane asylum with my mum, but luckily I didn't. She claimed to have seen the white rabbit. I saw it as well and no one wanted to believe us. I was forced into saying that I made everything up. Forced to admit I wanted attention. Mother had been gone for two months when father sent my sister and I away to our great aunt Imogene. My brother was left with father, his mistress, and the love-child they had together, Abigail. We were replaced and clearly out of the picture," I sat on the bed, hugging a pillow. "My sister, sweet…sweet Elizabeth, only eleven. I left her, unwillingly. She's at my aunt's house, wondering why I had left her, and I don't have an answer as to where I would have been if I go back." A single tear rolled down my cheek.

Hatter walked over to me, stood in front of me and wiped my tear away.

"You ran away?" He asked.

"I had to. It was my only choice, Tarrant." I frowned, sobbing a little more.

He looked me in the eyes. "I'm sorry for behaving so nastily all those other times."

I smiled a little, still sniffling. "Maybe I'm not the girl you're all setting me out to be."

This time he frowned, sitting on the bed and putting an arm around me.

"Trust me, you are, you just don't know it yet. You have quite a bit of muchness in you." He said.

I laughed a little at the odd word. "Muchness?"

He grinned and nodded, seeing that I was feeling a bit better. "It's what happens within." He poked my stomach, making me laugh a little.

"I need time to regain it." I said to him. He took off his hat, putting it on my head.

"I still have your hat, you know." He smiled down at me. I sighed, ignoring his statement.

"Tell me about yourself, Hatter." I spoke to him.

He thought for a moment. "My name is Tarrant Hightopp, and I make hats. I'm a hatter."

I shook my head, letting out a chuckle.

"Anything else?" I asked.

"Well-" He thought for a moment. Both of our thoughts were disrupted for the moment as a man swung right into the window, smashing it to bits with his sword in hand. I let out a gasp, climbing on the bed. He walked over to the door, locking it and held the swords to us both.

"Not a word or sound out of you both, or I'll slit both ye throats." He warned.

Tarrant pushed me behind him while I was still on the bed.

"If it's her that you want, you must come through me to get her." Tarrant spoke to him, his voice changing to that deep Scottish accent of his.

"Is that so?" Asked the man. He walked over, placing his sword right to Tarrant's throat.

"Hatter, don't." I said, slithering from behind him and standing on the side of the bed. Tarrant held up his hand to grab the sword but the man slashed his hand and arm. He groaned in pain, holding his wounds.

I gasped.

"You're coming with me." He said, grabbing me roughly and placing me on his shoulder.

"Hatter!" I screamed as he grabbed the rope from which he swung in from, swinging out.

"Leilani!" Tarrant yelled, rushing to the window, but we were already off. The man grasped my neck tightly, cutting off my oxygen temporarily. My eyes crossed and I passed out in his grip.

I woke on a red bed, seeing a man with black hair standing over me. He grasped me tightly.

"Come on, brat." He said nastily. I winced, my throat still sore.

"I demand to be let go!" I said, trying to wiggle free from his grip.

He smacked me across the face.

"Shut it," He warned. He walked me down a long hall and to a large area with a throne. There I saw a woman with blood-red hair and an abnormally large head. "Your majesty, we discovered her as a spy at the White Queen's ball."

She looked at me in distaste. "A spy, I see. Well, there's no good use of her than to be off with her head. Keep it as a keepsake and trophy." She smiled to herself.

The guards nodded, trying to take me off.

"No, wait!" I called.

"You dare yell at me?" She yelled back, standing now.

I shook my head quickly.

"I'm sorry. But perhaps we can work out a deal, here." I contemplated.

She raised an eyebrow. "Deal? Talk to me about your deal."

"I help your army. I mean, my mother was certainly popular in Underland, right? Surely you've heard of Alice?"

She smirked to herself.

"What do you know? Come in with a spy, come out as a rebellion. I like her. And why should I go along with your deal and NOT chop off you and that hideous Hatter's head?"

"He's not hideous," I bellowed. All eyes were on me. I blushed a little and cleared my throat. "I can help build your army stronger. I can be a servant. Whatever you want."

She stared at me briefly and sat back on her throne.

"Very well then. You shall be prisoner until you are further needed." She spoke. The man grabbed my tightly, taking me away to a cell with a boy sitting far off in the corner. I turned to him as I sat down.

"Hi." I spoke. He was shivering and rocking back and forth.

"I want food." He said.

"I haven't got any." I spoke. He looked at me. He had white-blonde hair, pure blue eyes that looked dangerous at the moment, and tattered clothing of fine material. I looked up, realizing who he was.

"I haven't eaten in twelve days!" He growled, inching towards me. I backed against the gates.

"I know who you are."

"I'm hungry, that's who I am! And you're looking like a juicy steak right about now." He spoke.

I shook my head quickly.

"Wait, I'm not food. Get a hold of yourself! You're the prince, the queen's little brother!"

"No longer, she traded me over to her for peace in her kingdom." He explained.

I looked into his insane eyes. "She wouldn't have."

"Well she did!" He spoke. He stood up, no longer wanting to eat me, if he ever wanted to, at least. He walked back to his corner and placed his hands on the wall, kicking it forcefully.

"Stop," I said softly to him. He just kept kicking harder, grunting each time. "Stop it!" He stopped and slid down the wall.

"I'm Adam." He said.

I stared at him cautiously. "I'm Leilani." I said softly.

"You're not Alice's daughter, are you?"

"I am."

He scoffed. "Better believe the fact that your mother was a huge help to Underland." He said sarcastically.

"She was at first!" I said.

"First times never count; it's what happens recently, the next time around." He spoke. He wasn't making any sense out of that mouth of his.

"Whatever you chose to believe." I said under my breath. I closed my eyes for a quick second and opened them to see the White Rabbit. He had a white coat on with red hearts all around it. My eyes widened.

"Leilani, this is for you. It's from the Hatter." He spoke.

"How are you working for the Red Queen AND the White Queen?" 

He looked ashamed.

"I'm on both sides." He said, passing me a letter through the cell. I snatched it away and opened it, reading it all. The words shocked me. It told me how I was to be one of the Red Queen's minions and do her every will that she pleased, even if it meant hurting them all. I crumbled the paper up and turned to Adam.

"Don't suppose you know anything about the upcoming war between the Red and White Queen, do you?"

He turned to me slowly. "Yes, of course I do. Why, who's asking?"

"The Hatter?"

His eyes widened and he grinned. "Tarrant Hightopp, he's a dear friend for ages. Ah, yes, well, I heard people talking about killing you because you're the main source of all this madness. Well, your mother exactly. Anyway, when your blood sheds, there'll be no more heroes defending my sist-the White Queen." He corrected himself.

"But I'm on the Red Queen's side, for now." I spoke.

He scoffed. "There is no 'for now'. Once you're on, you're on. No stopping it now." He told me. I looked at him and gulped, moving back to my corner, grasping the bars, letting my arms hang out. I was distressed.

"So this is it? I betrayed my kingdom without even lifting a finger on anyone?"

"Basically," He said. I turned around to him, for I was talking to myself. "And it gets better, too."

"How?"

"Chances are you might die, anyway. All we have on our side are warriors. The White Queen has the Bandersnatch and a hatter that frequently changes his mood-which is bound for danger."

I turned away from him slowly and back to the gates. I rested my head on the wall next to me. I betrayed everyone…even the one man I promised I wouldn't.


	6. Chapter 6

*Hatter/Tarrant's POV*

I sat in Leilani's room, holding her pillow which had the same scent of her hair on it. Why couldn't I have saved her? Why didn't I? He cut me, that's why. I held my wound and watched as the White Queen came over with bandages. She rolled up my sleeve and looked at my cuts, wrapping them up slowly. The Queen looked paler than usual, almost as pale as me. She was tired and worried for Leilani's safety.

"I could have stopped him." I said to myself.

"You couldn't. And I'm glad you didn't. She's made up her mind." She said.

"Made up her mind? She was taken, kidnapped!"

The Queen looked up at me and solemnly looked into my eyes. She looked back down, finishing up my wounds and decided to speak.

"She's sided with the Red Queen."

My chest became heavy. "What? How?"

She turned, grabbing a letter and handing it to me. I read it carefully and growled to myself.

"Apparently she's doing it for her own good. It's where she feels best." She said.

"This doesn't sound like her. She'd give her all to protect your kingdom. Why would she betray us so easily, over decisions that don't make any sense?"

She raised an eyebrow and smiled a little. "What are you saying, you foolish Hatter?"

I smirked a little. "I'm saying that she's still on our side. The day of the war, she will return Adam, and most likely go back up to her life but at least she helped us." I explained, grinning widely. The White Queen chuckled at me and placed her hand on my cheek.

"Looks like someone's in love." She teased. I blushed and shook my head.

"OH, no, of course not. I don't know a thing about her to consider this 'love'." I told her.

She smirked and left the room, leaving me here to think and prepare for the upcoming war.

*Leilani's POV*

I felt something cold hitting my leg as they tried waking me up.

I rubbed my eyes and stood up shakily.

"You're ordered by the queen." Said a guard. They tugged me along, leaving Adam behind, who was still sleeping.

I walked along corridor and corridor, finally reaching the Queen. I dropped to my knees.

"Your Majesty." I spoke.

"Get up, silly girl," She spoke. I got to my feet and looked around, seeing a bunch of red knights surrounding me. "We want to test your ability."

"My abilities? Don't you trust me enough to know my weaknesses and strengths? They're of those of my mothers." I lied.

She smirked down upon me. "It's either to test your ability NOW or your execution. People gathered outside in hopes that you'd be ever so kind as to go back to my sister. Take your pick, Leilani."

I gulped and turned, grabbing a sword. "Let it be so." I said, looking around for someone who would most likely be my quick opponent.

"Very well," The queen nodded. "Stayne!"

A man came forth. He was very tall, in all black armor. He grinned down and winked at me.

"And who is this?" He asked.

"Leilani Astor."

His face dropped. "Alice's daughter?"

"Don't ask questions, Stayne. I want you to fight Leilani."

"What if I damage such a beautiful creature?" He asked, walking towards me. I held the sword tightly in my hands, pointing it at his chest.

"Actions speak louder than words. I may be what you call beautiful, but you don't know if I'm deadly or not."

He chuckled. "Let's go." He circled me slowly, raising his sword to my hair, brushing it behind my shoulders.

"Too much hair, you see."

I raised my sword, pulling my hands back and waving the weapon to hit him. Before I could even get a little bit excited over the fact that I was in the midst of my very first fight with a real knight, I had crouched down low and fast, attempting to kick Stayne's leg. He jumped and I took my sword, jabbing his ankle. He let out a howl, falling on the floor. I stood over him, my sword to his neck.

The red queen laughed and clapped.

"Her mother's techniques, I see." She spoke.

"Yes, indeed. I'd recognize that strategy anywhere." Stayne said.

"Stayne, do me a favor and be Leilani's guardian. Look after her, train her for what will happen in two months."

The man bowed and grabbed my arm, limping off with me as he took me to a room full of swords. He tossed me away and stared at me, limping to me once more, grabbing my hair tightly, tugging at it. I yelled, holding his wrists.

"You're hurting me!"

"In war, you do not care for pain. Your only objection: winning. Now stay still."

I did as I was told and felt a knife cutting away at my hair. I closed my eyes tightly, tears streaming down. I hated this place. Why did I come back? Why wasn't Hatter coming for me? Why? Why? Why? Why is it that he was the only thing on my mind?

"Your hair gets in the way and you miss who you're aiming and wind up wounding yourself. You should have known this and taken matters into your own hands." He said to me.

I looked at my reflection in my sword. My hair was now to my shoulders. I was always used to the long curly locks reaching my elbows, but there wasn't time to fret or weep over such a silly thing. …But it was MY hair and I shall weep if I want to. Yet, Stayne was taller, bigger than me, and I didn't know exactly what he was capable of doing to me.

"I could have always tie it back." I told him. He thought for a moment now and shrugged, letting out a strange laugh.

"Too late, now." He said. I raised my hand to smack him but he blocked it with his sword.

"You're horrible."

"Thank you." He grinned.

I spat where his foot was and raised my sword.

"Teach me."

"You don't even know how to defend yourself," he walked around me slowly. "I can sneak up behind you and jab you in the back. You won't turn around fast enough."

"I will."

"You say that now. I can possibly do this," he said, kicking the bend of my leg, making me fall. He jabbed the sword right next to my face. "And just like that you can be dead."

I took my sword, which had fallen from my hands. He tried grabbing it but I remembered how Hatter got wounded. I jabbed his hand and he flinched back, holding it. He grabbed his sword and held it close to my neck.

"Do it, and your precious queen will have your head." I threatened.

He tossed his sword aside in frustration. "I could have killed you."

"But then again you couldn't have." I smirked, getting up and rubbing my leg, leaving the room.


	7. Chapter 7

* 2 months later *

.: Hatter/Tarrant's POV:.

I laid on the bed, thinking about no one but Leilani. I would see her today, out of three months of being without seeing her face, arguing with her, hugging her and finding out more about her, seeing her smile and feeling her soft hair. I had plotted a strategy to go and get her myself. She'd see me, run to me, and I'd save her from the red queen and Stayne. It was purely perfect, especially the sword fight. The queen placedher hand on me head.

"Are you sure that will work out?" She seemed doubtful.

"Oh yes, certainly!" I nodded quickly.

"What if she has gone to the red queen's side?" She asked.

I sighed with a slight smile. "My Queen, I told you already, she hasn't betrayed us." I smiled, biting my lower lip.

She chuckled a little. "And are you sure you're not in love?"

I thought about it. "I don't honestly know." I blushed a little. This had never happened to me before... "blushing."

"You think about it, okay?" She asked, leaving the room.

I laid down on her comfortable bed and picked myself up, putting my top hat on and grabbing my sword. I was ready…

.:. Leilani .:.

I went over, shaking Adam awake. He had grown pale, knowing he we able to see his sister once again after a year. I was dressed like Stayne, in nothing but black armor.

"Adam." I whispered. He looked up at me, dark circles under his eyes.

"What?"

"It's time for the war." I spoke softly.

He chuckled and I helped him up. He was so weak and fragile.

"I can't go." 

"You have to. Your sister needs you." I said. He gave me a weak smile.

"I have no sister."

I looked at him and pursed my lips together, frowning and returning back to normal. I helped him out of the cell, only to be greeted by the queen herself.

"What? Taking Adam, now are we?"

"He's a friend. I want him to see how much fun it is to cause damage." I explained. The queen giggled.

"That's what I like about you, Leila." She had shortened my name these past two months. My eyes welled up in tears when I remembered the Hatter. For some strange reason, I thought of him.

We headed out of the castle. The queen and I rode in the carriage whereas Stayne walked outside. He took a sword from his holder.

"The vorpal sword. It was your mother's possession along her arrival here. You deserved it." He spoke. I grinned slightly and grasped it, examining it.

"I trust that you'll allow me to keep my crown, Miss Astor?" The queen asked.

I turned to her and nodded, looking at Adam.

"Are you okay?" I whispered.

He turned to me, his eyes looked gray and dull. He was hungry.

"I'll be okay." He lied.

"He shall stay in the carriage with me, my dear." She spoke. I nodded and sighed. We were riding for a long time. All I saw was the white queen atop a horse with her soldiers behind her and the hatter riding on a bandersnatch. I frowned a little. They had completely given me up to the red queen, just like her little brother. We were a great distance from them. Stayne helped me out of the carriage and the hatter took a few steps forward.

"Leilani, it's okay, you can come back. You're safe with us." He spoke. I turned to Stayne.

"What ever does he mean?" I asked.

Stayne looked at the hatter. "My dear boy, Leilani is my apprentice." He laid his heavy hand on my shoulder. It seemed like most people on the white queen's side gasped.

"No, you're toying with us. She's on our side. Come on, Leilani." He spoke, walking towards me. I backed away and lifted my sword.

"Don't talk to me like I'm some child, Tarrant! You chose this fate for me."

He raised a hairy eyebrow. "I chose this fate for you? You're the one who wrote us saying you'd be siding with the red queen."

I was confused. "I didn't write any letter!" I said, lowering my sword. He opened his mouth to say something but Stayne pulled me away.

"Remember, he's the enemy. You have to finish them all off." He said.

"Don't listen to him!" I heard a familiar voice bellow at me. I turned, seeing hatter. His eyes were full of worry. Soon, the two men started talking to me all at one time, getting me rather confused. All I could possibly understand and hear were: "enemy"; "friend"; "betray"; "red queen"; "White queen" and so on.

"Enough," I yelled loudly, my voice echoing. I turned to Tarrant. "You offered me off as bait! Who's the traitor now?"

His eyes glowed red. "Listen here, love, ye wish to fight meh, then so be it!" He walked towards me, his sword in hand, aiming at me. I blocked it, soon sword fighting with him as knights started attacking one another.

Hatter's eyes turned from red to green. "Leilani, you don't have to do this, please. I can't bear fighting you."

"But you are." I said in a low voice, full of hate.

"I didn't offer you up."

"Then who did? Why didn't you come and rescue me, Tarrant?"

He thought. "I thought it was apart of the plan. I didn't want to mess it up again." He admitted. Tarrant's eyes went back to red as he gave a devilish smirk.

"Tarrant." I said softly.

He looked me in the eyes. "But, if it's a fight ye desire, it's a fight ye shall get." He said, kicking my leg. It was already weak from Stayne training me before. I had fallen and Hatter jabbed, but I rolled over, missing him.

"You stupid girl! Don't be like your stupid mother! Get up and fight!" The queen yelled. I turned around, seeing her bulbous head. I turned to Stayne, who was now fighting hatter. This was crazy. I panicked, falling to my knees, grasping my head, thought rummaging inside. I looked up, seeing Tarrant occasionally glance at me. His red eyes turned green as he saw me on the floor.

"Leilani," he yelled. I stood up, charging towards the Red Queen, striking her in the back of the head. She fell over and out of her carriage. "Turn around!" I turned, seeing Stayne coming towards me, putting me in a chokehold. I gasped for air.

"Let go of me!"

He held the sword to my throat.

"Not on my own accord, little lady."

I tried getting out but his grasp grew tighter around my neck. He bent down, kissing my cheek and then my neck. I shook, the blade from his sword drawing closer to my neck, the coldness now touching it, but not yet harming it.

"I'm not going where you're taking me."

"Who said I was taking you anywhere? I could kill you right now. It's not a problem."

I turned to hatter, reaching up and grabbing Stayne's hair, tugging harshly. He yelled in pain and Hatter took a step closer. Stayne slit my wrist, making me let go and pressed the sword back to my throat.

"Hatter don't move!" I ordered. He stopped and watched us both.

"Another step and your girlfriend, here, dies." He said, tossing my in the carriage, along with the red queen. He slapped the horse, making it walk as he rode on the outside of the carriage, making sure we weren't being followed.

~ Back at the Red Queen's Castle ~

I stared at the floor and at my scar on my wrists. Who had written the letter if Hatter didn't do so? It didn't make any sense, whatsoever. I was confused, this whole place was confusing. And I wanted nothing more than to leave if I were to never see Hatter's face again.

"That didn't work out, now did it. Now you'll never leave here, and neither will I." Said Adam. I turned around to him.

"You spoiled brat! I attempted to save you, but you didn't want to go anywhere. No place is satisfying to you." I explained harshly.

"You won't see the light of day either. You're being executed first thing tomorrow. Anyone who betrays the Red Queen will be."

I shook my head slowly, toying with my hair for a second. I clasped my hands to my face and turned to the gates, seeing something brush past it outside. Soon, a cat appeared inside my cell with me.

"Chess!" I smirked.

He revealed his usual grin.

"I can get you outta here."

"Who were you sent by?"

"Who else?"

"The white queen?"

"That silly hatter, of yours."

I blushed slightly and cleared my throat.

"How can you get me out?" I raised an eyebrow.

"You ask an awful lot of questions."

"Because I deserve to know! There are two of us that you need to rescue!"

The cat grinned widely and sighed heavily, leaving the gate.

"Foolish." He spoke.

"Wait! Come back! Please come back to us!" I said in a whisper. He drifted down the hall, not a care in the world. I figured he was going to leave us here, but I was surprised when I saw that he came back with the keys. My stomach growled. Now I understood why Adam was so cranky: lack of food. His previous meal was just a few days ago and that wasn't even enough. They treated us like the prisoners we were. In my real world, I was royal…in this world, I'm nothing more than a toerag. In his kingdom, he's a prince. In this one, he's nothing more than a fragile, annoying, pessimistic boy.

"Now shush," Said Cheshire. He unlocked us and I helped Adam to his feet. He was wheezing heavily. The guards saw us.

"Stop them!" They yelled, charging after us. I got frightened, trying to run with Adam from the guards. We passed by Stayne who was taking care of the queen, who had no recollection of the incident, nor did she know who she was. Stayne pointed his sword to my throat. Cheshire appeared invisible and grasped it from his hands, hitting him in the back with it.

"You leave the castle! I'll fight them off." Cheshire grinned widely. I nodded, walking swiftly out of the castle with Adam. He held on to me as we walked. I walked out of the castle and saw the White Queen's castle just over a few mountains. I sighed heavily to myself, beginning on our journey.

~ Hatter's POV ~

I paced back and forth. This wasn't good, not good at all. Leilani was imprisoned and I had no idea how to get her back to me…I mean, the Queen. I kicked the stone walls of the balcony and looked up at the stars, tears streaming down my face at a fast pace. I wanted to just die. What I'd do to get her back safely.

"Hatter," Said the Queen. I dried my tears with my collar and turned around to her, feigning a smile. "It's time for dinner, if you'd like some?"

I thought about it. Food, dining and having my fill with an empty chair right next to me. She'd miss tonight's dinner, the dinner we all figured she'd have for beating the red queen's army.

"I'm not hungry, I'm sorry." I apologized in a whisper.

She walked towards me. "Hatter, it's too late now."

"Why is it too late?"

"The queen will have her killed tonight." She said. My eyes turned a deep blue and then a red color. I wanted to jump over the ledge and run to the castle, but I was scared of the sight I might witness. I could see Leilani blind-folded, bending over. That, or I could see her head in the bloody straw basket. Both made me sick to my stomach. I gulped and sat on the little bench.

"I'm not hungry anymore."

The queen gasped. "I'm sorry for filling your head with such thoughts."

I shook my head. "It's not that. I just miss her. Two months without her and when we come in contact, we're trying to kill each other. She tries coming back to us, but it only leads her to her death. It's unbearable to focus on tasks when the thought that she could be dead. It's hard because she's someone I deeply care about. She's someone I-" I stopped myself short, thinking of what was suitable to say.

"Say it." The queen nodded. I blushed and looked away.

"Love."

She patted my shoulders. 

"I'll leave you to your thoughts."

Once she left, I yelled in pure anger and rage, tears streaming down my face. I couldn't even tell her that I knew her, tell her that I was there, tell her I was sorry…and that I love her. I blinked, which only made the tears come down faster.

"Why did I fight her? I should have refused!" I yelled to myself. I cleared my throat, Dormouse coming over.

"Hatter, why do you cry?"

I turned to her and snickered, looking away only to let the tears fall down harder.

"I'm in love with a dead girl."

"Leilani?"

I bit my lower lip. The sound of her name pierced my heart. I grabbed it tightly and nodded, unable to give a simple yes or no.

"Aye."

"She's dead?" Asked the mouse.

I grabbed my orange hair, taking my hat off and throwing it over the ledge.

"Aye." I repeated, this time hoarse, making my Scottish accent thicker than ever.

Dormouse sat next to me.

"She tried coming back, but they were better than her."

"No one is better than Leilani! No one, I tell you!" I shouted, closing my eyes tightly, leaving and walking to her room. I searched in her closet, taking out a dress that I had made for her. I sprayed it with the perfume she had always worn and laid it on her bed, inching closer to it, pretending it was Leilani I was laying next to.

_She's gone, Tarrant. Accept it…_

I tried telling myself.

"But I **love** her."

I was truly going mad over Leilani. Maybe I really didn't love her…maybe it was some kind of personality thing that I had, needing someone to be in my life. This had happened before, with our other champion. But no, this wasn't like Alice. This was stronger. I had fallen for Alice Kingsley's daughter…


	8. Chapter 8

~ Leilani's POV ~

Adam exhaled and inhaled abruptly. I honestly thought he'd drop at any moment now. I saw the castle up ahead, smiling to myself. I turned to Adam, lifting his chin and kissing his cheek.

"Adam, we're here! We can make it!"

"I can't, I can't go on…Leilani." He spoke softly. I looked at him.

"But you have to! We're…it's just right there!" I treated him like my own little brother, if I had one again. George didn't count as my brother since _his _father kicked me and my sister out. Along the journey, walking for hours, I had considered things that began with the letter H.

…Hunter, Hatter, Heroic, Hatter, Honorable, Hatter…Hatter…Hatter…

I had his very same mindset. I was silently going insane. He was running through my mind like a hyperactive rabbit, springing forth. I stopped, looking down and seeing a hat on the floor, Tarrant's hat. I looked up towards the sky, only to see a man with orange hair looking distressed.

"Tarrant!" I yelled. He looked down. I could see his smile all the way from down here.

"Leilani! It's Leilani!" called everyone. I felt my arm get heavy. Was Adam leaning on me? I turned to him.

"Adam, wake up. We're here." I said. He opened his eyes for a brief second and leaned on me yet again, making me topple over. Being tired, I laid on the cold floor, closing my eyes for a quick moment…maybe two…

I woke, seeing Hatter rubbing the Queen's shoulder as she looked out a window, sobbing. It wasn't her uncontrollable noise that made me wake up, it was from me being fully recharged. I sat up, my head pounding for a few seconds. It subsided when Hatter gave a soft grin at me. I didn't return it.

"What's going on?" I asked. The queen turned to me in shock and hugged me tightly.

"Thank you, so much, for bringing my brother back." She said.

"Where is he?" I asked. She looked me in the eyes and walked back to the window. Was he outside? She sat on the bench.

Hatter walked over to me slowly and extended his hand. I took it softly and he led me out of my room and to the next one across from me. There I saw him, pale and sleeping. I pulled a chair over and sat down, stroking his hair.

"Adam, we're home now. No need to be so grim." I smiled a little. But, there was something wrong. He felt so cold, so very cold. Hatter placed his hand on my shoulder and squeezed softly. I turned to look at him.

"Adam died when he got back here to the castle." He whispered. I stood up slowly, shaking my head and covering my mouth.

"No, stop lying. He's not dead. He can't be," I said, looking back at the boy. I rested my head on his chest.

No heartbeat…

I bit my lower lip, feeling his cold face. My bottom lip trembled and I dashed out the room, covering my mouth. I stopped in the hall, falling to the floor, sobbing. Hatter came behind me, picking me up and carrying me to an empty room. I wiped tears from my face.

"Why do you cry?" He asked.

"I thought about my sister." I spoke.

"Your sister died as well?"

I shook my head. "I left her to runaway from my aunt Imogene's house. I ended up here accidentally."

"By chance."

I looked into his green eyes.

"Chance? How so?"

"We could have gotten another Leilani, any Leilani. But you, no-no, you're Alice's daughter. Why not have a series of champions?" He explained.

"And when I get married and have kids, they shall be champions here as well?"

He frowned at what I said. "I don't really think the Red Queen is going to try to take anyone else's crown, again."

"She can't remember who she is." I giggled to myself. A strand of my orange hair crossed over to my face.

Hatter took it with his index finger and thumb, brushing it away. I blushed a little.

"I love you, Leilani." He said. My heart skipped a beat. It felt like I had swallowed a butterfly, which was now going crazy in my stomach.

"You don't know me." I said, using the same line as last time. What was I saying?

"But I do! Your favorite color is green, just like your beautiful eyes. You're twenty-two. You don't like hats, your father kicked you out, you ran away from your aunts house-" I interrupted him.

"Those are things I told you. Can you not delve deeper?" Why was I testing him?

"When you're scared, you panic. When you're sad, upset, or embarrassed, you run away to cry or vent. You hate it when people talk about Alice. You hate being replaced, and often times are gullible. You're stubborn but very friendly. You're hot-tempered and you hated the kiss that I gave you last time. Your favorite place to go in the castle is to the balcony because you like seeing the visitors enter."

I stared into his eyes.

"Do you really love me?" I asked him. He smiled a little, his gap in his teeth revealing. It made me laugh a little. He was too adorable.

"Yes," He said. I looked away, making him frown. "Do you love me?"

I turned to him and smirked. "You'd think after knowing all that untold information about me, you'd know that by now."

"But do you?" He asked. I grabbed him by the wrists, making him stand up. I showed him to my door.

"Good-bye, Hatter." I smirked a little.

~ Eight months later ~

The March Hare tossed a dinner roll at me as he sat in his chair. It bounced off my cheek, having some of the queen's guests, dormouse, and the Tweedles laughing.

The White Queen tapped her glass with a spoon, gently.

"We do not throw our food to our champion, or anyone for that matter. We ask them politely," Said Hatter as he glared at the hare. He grabbed his ears and looked away. He picked up the bread basket. "Would you like one?"

I turned to Hatter, that lively smile gazing down upon me. I raised an eyebrow, noticing the buttered finger inside each of them. I gulped and shook my head.

"No thank you." I said. Was there anything here that was normal? Well, at least normal to me?

"You must eat, Leilani. You haven't touched anything on your plate." Said Queen.

"I'll eat, I'm just working up my appetite." I lied as I looked at the food on my plate: Buttered fingers, spaghetti and dirt balls instead of meat balls, fish scales, and eyes of a newt hidden in my spaghetti.

"Yes, you must feast!" He smiled.

"It's my birthday." I said softly.

Everyone stopped eating and looked at me. The Queen stood up hesitantly.

"Invite all our guests! We're having a ball tonight for our champion." She said.

I gasped.

"No, I don't want a ball."

"Nonsense, our champion must celebrate her date of birth properly." Said the Queen as she got up, moving away with the rest of her guests. I was just left to dine with Hatter, the March hare, McTwisp (the White Rabbit) and the Tweedles.

"So we're having an unbirthday party?" Asked dormouse. I smiled at her.

"No, a birthday party." I corrected her. She shrugged, not knowing the different at all. I had a troubled look on my face.

"What's wrong?" Hatter asked me.

"I never found out who wrote the letters, lying about us." I said.

McTwisp jumped a little and checked his pocket watch.

"I must be on my way! The Queen needs me."

I raised an eyebrow. 

"McTwisp, we have her held captive in our dungeon! She doesn't remember a thing." Hatter stated. He jumped from his seat and I dashed out of mine, grasping his ears and lifting him up.

"You did it didn't you?"

"Did what?"

"Don't lie to your _champion._" I put much emphasis.

He looked at us all, but mainly Hatter and I. "Stayne made me do it, to throw you all off and turn your backs on each other." He said, hopping from my hand and going off. I came back to my seat and sighing heavily.

"Are you not happy that today is your birthday?" Hatter asked me.

I turned to him and looked back at my food. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?" he asked me.

"No." I whispered.

"Milady!" Said the queen's maid as she took me by the wrist, escorting me upstairs to change.

I turned to the Hatter.

"I'll see you at the ball." I assured him.

"Will you find me?"

"If you find me." I grinned back at him, going upstairs to change into more fancy clothing.

~ An hour later ~

I sat at my vanity, looking at myself in the mirror. I saw a girl, who may be a champion for rescuing the Queen's little brother, but he died, for she waited too long to bring him back. To me, I saw a failure staring blankly back. This failure promised Elizabeth that she'd always be there for her. That was a broken promise. In other words, she was officially a traitor, betrayer, anything you'd wish to name. Elizabeth, oh…sweet, sweet Elizabeth. My eleven, going on twelve, year old sister, who was suffering alone because of my own selfish decision to leave without a simple warning. This made her want to leave this wonderful place just to protect her. But, once she goes, they'll forbid her of ever going back, for they would have been searching high and low for me.

"Milady, it's your ball, why must you not come out?" Asked my maid. I stood up, walking around my room, hesitating on whether or not to leave. I sighed, reaching for the doorknob, grabbing a small blanket on my bed. I tucked it under my arm, walking from my room to the balcony only. I peered over the ledge. Hatter promised he'd find me, but I utterly doubt it, because he's probably off having a good time socializing with the women who find him eccentric in that good way.

"Finally come down, I see." Said Hatter. I turned around to him and smiled a little.

"Hello, Tarrant."

"Why aren't you enjoying your party?" he asked. I closed my eyes, letting the breeze bump against my face.

"I'm just not in those high spirits."

"Why not? It's your birthday."

"I know, Tarrant. I just want to leave Wonderland." I said, lowering my head. He looked me in the eyes.

"Leave Wonderland? But why?" He seemed very shocked at my contemplation.

"Elizabeth. I've been a horrible sister to her. I've abandoned her." I said, covering my face to hide my tears from falling. I had every intention of Hatter just walking away from me to leave me to my thoughts. Yet, he wanted to make me feel better. He tugged my hands away from my face and brushed my tears away.

"Come with me." He said, grasping my wrist. He led me out of the castle and through the woods, letting go once he saw how mesmerized I was with the view of the sun setting. I grinned, my sniffling soon stopping.

"Why did you take me here?" I asked.

"Part one of your birthday present." He explained.

I grinned to myself and clasped my hands. "it's beautiful. But what's part two?"

He turned to me, cleared his throat and turned back to the view.

"Beautiful view, indeed," it was just silence between us as it seemed like we were walking into it. Soon, we ceased our walking to admire it. "The whole siding with the Red Queen, was it to throw us off?"

I turned to him.

"I was going by what McTwisp sent me." I admitted.

"And to think I thought you were going to be a traitor like your mother." He said.

I turned to him. "My mum was not a traitor. God, I can't believe you're still going on with that," His eyes widened, realizing that what he said ticked me off. He started panicking, realizing that he had partially ruined my birthday. "That's an insult. To think I thought we were all getting passed this whole traitor issue with my mum. Leave her alone. She's in an asylum for Christ's sake! And another thing, if I hear another word like that from you, I'm talking to the White Queen and definitely leaving Wonderland."

My threat seemed to scare him. My blanket fell from under my arms to the leave down below. The wind took it upon itself to blow it away. Hatter tracked it down, following it with me trailing behind him. He stomped on it and I gasped. It had his dirt and crunched leaves on it. He picked it up, folded it and handed it back to me. I cleared my throat.

"Your blanket." He said. Surprisingly, he was still polite after I had nagged him all these long months.

"Thank you," I said. He smiled a little at me, which made me blush. I fought back a grin and sighed. "I…I should be going now." I turned to leave but he grabbed my wrist, spinning me around. He pinned me against a tree, putting his face really close to mine, as though he were teasing me. He leaned in close, his lips brushing past mine which made me so eager to kiss him. He tilted his head to the side, slowly moving in closer to me. With that, the most extraordinary thing happened right underneath that tree. Being surprised, but also enjoying it, I closed my eyes slowly, placing my hands on his shoulders, putting more effort into the kiss.

After kissing for fifteen seconds, he broke the kiss, blushing deeply. "Happy Birthday."


	9. Chapter 9

That night I had fallen asleep in the arms of the Hatter. Nothing happened at all. We just made it back to the castle, skipped the party and headed back to my room to get to sleep. I opened my eyes slowly, trying to wriggle from Hatter's arms. I turned all the way over, facing him. He opened his eyes slowly, smiling once he saw me. He kissed my forehead.

"Good Morning." He said in a whisper. I smiled, moving from his grip.

"Morning." I said, instantly getting dressed in my black pants that stopped at my knee and my red polka dotted shirt.

"Going somewhere…without me?" He asked.

I turned to him slowly and gave an uneasy smile.

"I have to talk to the Queen about something." I said, walking over and sitting on the bed. He brushed my hair from my face.

"Can't you wait until I'm done getting dressed?" He asked. I thought about it and bit my lower lip. The decision I was about to make made me sick to my stomach.

"It's something I have to discuss alone."

He frowned. "May I have a kiss?" He asked. I smirked at how polite he was. I leaned in slowly kissing his lips softly.

I heard the door open quickly.

"Leilani! I demand a word from-" Said the queen as she stopped mid-sentence. We both turned to her, our faces red as can be. She was blushing as well, a slight smile on her face.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I demand to know why you didn't make an appearance at your party, but now I know why." She teased playfully. She turned to exit but I quickly slipped my shoes on and went out to chase her.

"Your Majesty!"

She turned to me. "Yes, my dear?"

"I'd like to know how to go back home." I stated. Her face fell from that beautiful smile of hers.

"Go home? Why would you want to go home? You have most of Underland at your feet. You're our champion. Hatter would be upset to hear about this." She spoke, trying to walk past me.

"No, you cannot tell anyone," I said, looking into her eyes. "Please." I begged.

She sighed heavily. "Come now, follow me." She said. I followed her into the kitchen, where her chef was fussing about ingredients. She concocted a small potion and sighed, handing it to me. I grabbed it but she wouldn't let go.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I don't know if I should give it to you." She spoke.

She let go, trying to let it drop but I grabbed it, leaving the kitchen. I saw Hatter ask people where I was. I dashed past him, out the doors of the palace.

"Leilani!" he called, running after me. I twisted the cap open and swallowed all of the drink at once. I turned around, seeing him still running. Everything around me turned black and he faded away. I closed my eyes tightly and opened them, seeing that I was in the backyard yet again. I saw father with boards, looking at me.

"Leilani? What are you doing here?" He asked. I looked at him, my eyes wide. Did he see me appear out of nowhere?

"I came back. I was afraid of Aunt Imogene. She talks to herself." I said sadly.

Hamish scoffed. "Your mother's side certainly is a mess. Now, get going." He shooed me away. I walked towards him.

"Dad, you need muchness." I said.

"What an absurd word. What is muchness?"

I smiled and poked his stomach. "Your courage and emotional strength; it comes from within here." I said.

"Ah, yes, well. Carry on. I'm boarding up this rabbit hole. It's so useless."

My eyes widened. "No! Don't!"

"Why not?"

I stared at him. "The rabbits, of course."

He scoffed. "You hated rabbits."

I stared at him and jolted off to Aunt Imogene's house. It took me a while but I made it. I threw a rock at Elizabeth's window, making her come to it. She looked at me in shock.

"Leila!" She yelled. I shushed her.

"You must hurry. Pack your bags." I said. She nodded, getting her bags together. She tossed them out the window and jumped down. I caught her, putting both of them on my shoulder.

"Where are we going? Why did you leave me?"

"We're going to a far better place. There are talking cats and rabbits in waistcoats. I even have a special guy." I winked at her as I ran with her in m arms.

She looked confused. "You've gone mad like mother!"

I scoffed. "I left you because I was being really selfish. Forgive me, my dear sister." I said.

"I do. Just take me somewhere, anywhere but here." She said. After fifteen minutes, we made it back to our old home. I sat her down, saw the boards and groaned to myself.

"This cant be happening." I said.

"You're taking me to a rabbit hole?" She asked.

"Down the rabbit hole!" I told her. She blinked, helping me rip the boards off of it. I threw her bags down there and helped her as we both slid down. I was used to the fast sensation of moving downward, after all I've been through. We made it to the bottom, falling flat and then falling upside down.

"Leilani? Where are we?" She asked. I saw a drink on the table labeled: "drink me." I took a sip and passed it to Lizzy, who drank it also. We both fit through the door to reveal the place that I had recently left.

"Wonderland." I smiled. Lizzy looked confused but excited. I picked her up in my arms. I was carrying a lot of weight: her, her bags. I sighed to myself, marching off to the White Queen's castle. I entered, moving inside and entering my room. There I saw Tarrant laying on my bed, crying. He sat up and looked at us both. I sat Elizabeth down as Tarrant charged at me, hugging me tightly.

"Where did you go?" He asked. I coughed a little.

"To my aunt's house. I had to get my sister." I said.

Tarrant kissed my forehead and hugged me tightly. We stopped when the faint 'ahem' made us both feel embarrassed.

"Hello, madam." Tarrant joked as he extended his hand to Elizabeth.

"I'm Elizabeth."

"Tarrant Hightopp." He grinned. She smiled a little, loving how welcomed Tarrant made her feel.

"You lost a tooth like me!" She stated, referring to his gap. I felt my stomach overcome with butterflies. I hit her arm slightly, only to tell her that she shouldn't point out things like that.

He just let out a soft chuckle. "Possibly!" He shrugged, only to fool around with the young girl.

The white queen came inside, beads of sweat on her forehead.

"Dormouse told me you were upset. Are you-" She looked at us all.

"Once again, your majesty, you're late." I smiled.

She turned to the little girl with blonde hair.

"A replica of Alice." She said in nothing but pure shock. The queen, quickly turning on that tint of weirdness about her, went over to my sister, circling her in disbelief. She lifted her hair and stared into her eyes, as if seeing Alice reincarnate.

"Alice's my mum." Elizabeth said.

"Why don't I show you around our castle? You can be princess for a day." The White Queen said, holding her hand. Elizabeth looked at me for approval and I nodded, shooing her off. The two walked out, looking like mother and daughter.

"She does resemble Alice." Said Tarrant. I turned to him.

"Now, I have nothing to worry about." I smiled softly to him. He blushed and looked down at his feet and back up to me. I heard horse hooves galloping outside the window. Hatter and I rushed outside to see a man wearing all green, coming towards the castle. We looked at each other, knowing something was soon to come up.

We all rushed downstairs, only to see that the queen was talking to the man on the horse. He was short, shorter than us all and had skin that looked oddly red. Elizabeth was having fun joking around with the March Hare. I just hoped he didn't throw anything at her…

"My Queen, I've come to find a suitable queen for my kingdom."

The queen blushed. "Chaunce, you know I don't marry." She held her hands together.

"If not you then who?" He asked, looking around. His eyes settled on me quickly and Hatter immediately grabbed my hand, pushing me behind him. The man looked up at him and smirked.

"I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere, for she's clearly not interested." The Queen spoke. He frowned, giving Tarrant an awfully unpleasant look.

"I'll take whomever I want." He said, grabbing my wrist roughly. Since he was short, it made me lunge forward just a little bit. Tarrant broke his grip and he pointed his sword at Tarrant's throat.

"She's mine." Tarrant said, pushing the sword away.

"You let her go or I'll have your HEAD!"

Tarrant scoffed. "You and what army?" He asked.

The small king snapped his fingers and soon enough, many green soldiers came through the door, as well as one, giant green creature with no eyes but razor sharp teeth.

"My army of soldiers, sir; oh and not to mention "The Beast"…but people of my kingdom call him Knuckles."

"You should have never asked." I whispered to him. The Hatter turned to me.

"We're happily together, and we're getting married. It's unlawful to take a married woman." He said. I turned to him. Marriage? But…we just got together yesterday!

"What are you saying?" I whispered.

The Hatter looked at me. "Well?"

The man, Chaunce, grabbed my sister, holding her tightly. Elizabeth let out a soft scream.

"No!" She said, her face scrunching up in fright.

"You can't take my sister!" I yelled.

He smirked, revealing nothing but rotten teeth.

"Oh, but I can. I must have a wife, for the sake of my kingdom."

I frowned, looking at everyone.

"Then take me, instead." I said softly.

He grinned and nodded. "Very well then, I shall come back for you in precisely one hour. If I find that you've gone missing, you're all dead. Even you, milady." He pointed his sword to the Queen, who backed away from him, rushing off. Hatter followed suit, going in the opposite direction as some of the White Queen's soldiers had them all leave the castle. Elizabeth ran off to the princess and I tried catching up to Tarrant.

"Tarrant!" I called, jogging after him. He turned around, his eyes switching from Black to Red all at once. He raised his hand quickly, striking me across the face, making me fall. I held my cheek, looking up at him in pure fright. His eyes turned back to the green color that they normally were.

"Did I just hit you?" he asked. I stood up slowly, dashing off to my room, slamming the door. He ran after me, trying to explain. He tried getting me to unlock the door but I didn't want to, I couldn't.

"I have no words for you, Tarrant!" I yelled.

"Please, I'm sorry. I was mad. I can only imagine what life will be like without you. It's unbearable." He said. I marched over, opening the door to see tears on his cheeks.

"Your behavior was unbearable! If you care for me so much, you wouldn't have hit me." I said. He walked in, trying to get through to me.

"It was an accident. Please don't leave just because of this."

I turned to him and scoffed. "I'm not leaving because of you. It's in honor of my sister, and all of you. If I don't go, he'll kill you all. Every single soul in the castle, the people of Underland, and it'll be my selfish mistake." I said, packing my trunk. He grasped my wrist. My reflexes, I snatched it back, turning to him quickly.

"So you're going off to get married, never to return?"

I looked at him. "That's where you're wrong." I said to him.

He raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I'll return, somehow." I said, sitting on the bed. He appeared next to me, stroking my hair slowly and softly. I so desperately wanted to stay, for the sake of Elizabeth and my friends, but Hatter just annoyed me. He gently cupped my face in his hands and placed his forehead to mine.

"Don't go." He whispered softly. I placed my hands on his wrists in return. I was tempted to kiss him, but I was silently fighting myself. I wanted to stay mad at him, too. I couldn't let him show that I was going to let him off that easy.

"But I must."

"You can stay…with me! We don't have to stay here. We can go to the forest and be happy there. No one will find us. They won't find you, or me, or even Elizabeth."

I looked at him, shaking my head.

"Hatter, just stop." I said to him, continuing to pack. Whenever I would put something in my trunk, he'd take it right back out, like a spoiled child. He grinned at me a little, but I refrained.

"I'm sorry." He said.

I raised an eyebrow and walked from the room, shaking my head, going off to see Elizabeth. After failing to find her, since "Good-bye" would be hard on us both, I walked off to the balcony, peering over it. I heard slow footsteps behind me.

"I'm going to tell you the exact words that I told your mother when she left for good: You could always stay, you know. Of course, your mother didn't listen."

I turned around to him.

"It's not that I don't want to stay. I have to go. It's either me…or Elizabeth's life. I'm not risking anything, Hatter."

He sighed heavily. "You've knocked the Red Queen unconscious, almost got killed by Stayne, and you're worrying about some elf's henchmen?"

I was drowning out all the superfluous verbiage that he was feeding me. Why did he have so much to say?

"It's partially your fault, too, you do know that, right?"

He looked confused. "My fault?"

"Yes, your fault. You told him we were getting married! That made the idea of marriage delve deeper into that puny skull of his, because by taking another man's girl is like taking candy from a baby. And by threatening Elizabeth, he knew that would make me scared, guilty, and all that. He got your weak spot...both of our weakspots."

He walked towards me, grabbing my bag from my hand and letting it fall to the floor with a faint thump. He placed his hands on my shoulders.

"Leilani…I don't have a weak spot." He tried assuring me.

"You don't know it yet, but I'm your weak spot. What would happen if I were to die?"

His eyes turned navy blue. "I'd be depressed."

"What happens if I told you I hated you?"

His eyes glowed a red color, looking at me coldly. "I've been considering things that start with the letter K…Kids…Kiss…Kings…Knuckles…Kill…" he trailed off and I grabbed his face.

"You see what I just did," He shook his head, his eyes back to the lime green color again. He just shrugged his shoulder, surprised that he had gotten angry by a question. "I can make you feel any kind of emotion I'd want. I'm your weak spot."

"Which is my reason for you not to go," He said, squeezing my shoulders. "Don't go, Leilani." He hugged me tightly.

I tried slipping away from him once I heard the sound of horses coming about. It was Chaunce and his men. I grabbed my bags, pushing past him, on my way down the stairs and out to the door. Elizabeth was holding onto the Queen tightly, sobbing. I had left her, brought her here for a new and possibly better life, and now I was leaving again. I was surprised at how she didn't hate me…yet.

I walked towards the carriage, seeing Chaunce dash over and grab my hand. It was like holding hands with a child.

"Ready, my wife?" he asked, grinning up at me. I feigned a smile and nodded twice before I stopped walking.

"Leilani!" called a voice. I turned around, seeing Tarrant standing there, holding his hat in his hands. He tossed it towards me and I caught it, holding it against my chest.

"Yes?" I asked.

He was sweating a little bit.

"I love you." He said softly. I could hear the white queen let out a faint squeal of delight. Delight? I was being betrothed to a man half of my size and this was a "happy" moment? I didn't know how to reply to that!

"Good-bye, Tarrant." I said, turning and getting into the carriage. Once inside, I just let it all out: crying, wails, laughter of confusion and that this must be all one sick, twisted dream, and then there was regret. Regret that I didn't get the opportunity to speak the words back to him. But, was I sure that I loved him? It seemed too early.

"There, there, my wife, you will find much more joy in my children at home rather than your sister, or that clown you'd call a boyfriend. I smacked him hard.

"He's no clown! Don't you ever speak a word about him! You don't know him! He'll be a better husband to me than you'll ever be! And that's a pure fact!"

He grinned, snapping his fingers. The carriage stopped and Knuckles came almost out of no where.

"You'll be sorry." He said.

I was frightened. "No! I'm sorry! I swear, I'm sorry!" I said, dropping to the floor of the carriage, grabbing his small legs.

He stroked my hair.

"That's more like it." He nodded to himself.


	10. Chapter 10

Along the carriage ride to Chauncentry, Chaunce's kingdom, I had dozed off for a few minutes, but woke up to Chaunce sleeping on my lap. Disgusted, I tried pushing the little fellow away, but he kept lingering back towards me. I peered out of the window, tired from all the stress and crying. My eyes were hurting, for I rubbed them far too many times. Besides getting over the pain from my eyes, I turned, seeing Stayne on his horse. I stared out the window, before stopping the carriage.

"Wait!" I yelled.

The horse skipped to a stop and I hopped out the carriage, moving towards Stayne.

"Stayne! You must help me!" I whispered softly.

"My Queen, who are you talking to?" Asked Chaunce. It didn't hit me until now when I realized that he referred to me as his Queen. I spun on my heel to face him.

"No one, my King, just an old friend. I'm inviting him to the wedding!" I lied, soon turning back to Stayne. He looked confused.

"Who is this Stayne you speak of? I'm merely Sir Henry Godfried of Savannah, coming to find my rightful place and help my people in need." He said. Wow, Chess must have done some work on him for Stayne not to remember a single thing, especially his own name!

"Listen…Sta-I mean…Sir Henry, I need you to follow my carriage and when the wedding begins, you must attack." I told him. He bowed down.

"Anything, to defend a lady's honor." He spoke. I smirked a little and trotted back to the carriage climbing in. The carriage began to move yet again.

"You're taking pleasure in this wedding, now aren't you?" Chaunce asked me. I turned to him slowly.

"I've always wanted to be a Queen." I told him, then looking away. He placed his hand on my knee, squeezing tightly. In reflexes, I kicked my leg up, soon moving to the opposite side to face him.

"No, sorry, but not yet. Wait until we are almost at your kingdom. But here, I'm still in the presence of my Queen." I told him. He raised an eyebrow.

"You have no Queen. You're a Queen yourself, you're second in line to make the commands," he said. He peered out the window. "And besides, we're already here."

I felt like dying. We were here so fast? I turned, seeing nothing but a large, neon green castle just straight up ahead.

"That's your kingdom?" I asked, looking out and seeing wilting flowers.

"Yes, beautiful, isn't it?"

I turned to him and sighed, looking back out. We both exited the carriage, seeing some of his loyal men and residents.

He snapped his fingers and two ladies came up to me, taking me away and inside the castle.

"You must change out of foreign clothing."

"But, I just traveled 24 hours! I'm not a foreigner. We weren't even that far." I explained.

"But you are in a new country now. You must be under a new ruler, your husband." She spoke, putting me in nothing but lime green attire after attire. They even had my hair in lime green bows. Life without ever seeing any of my friends…or even Elizabeth…is just like hell.

"I'm ruled by no one, and he is not my husband…yet." I spoke, placing Tarrant's hat on my head.

"Tell us, what is your name?" Asked one. I turned to both of them.

"Hightopp…Tarrant Hightopp." I spoke coldly.

Five Months Later

I sat, staring at my food. Chaunce was on one end of the abnormally lengthy table, as I was on the other end. He had to sit on a stack of books, just to see over the table. He smirked at me.

"You must eat, Chancella. I love my women nice and plump." He spoke. I looked up at him.

"Chancella?" I called.

He nodded. "Your new name, of course!" he said. I blinked.

"When was this? All this time you've called me by Leilani, Leila, or "that woman". When did Chancella occur?"

"Right now. It's for when you become my wife, and the mother to your step-sons, tomorrow." I grabbed my fork, scratching away at the table.

"The wedding is in three more months, Chaunce." I said, annoyed.

He laughed, along with his children.

"No, no, change of plans. The wedding is tomorrow." He spoke. I started panicking. What if Stayne doesn't know? He's going to be absent to save me! I frowned.

"Great." I said, standing up and walking to the large window. I stared outside of it, seeing the white castle from afar. Even though it was just one simple color, it was fairly noticeable, other than Chaunce who was trying too hard to stand out and make himself more noticeable.

"Well, off to bed, all of you, you must rest for tomorrow." He ordered. I walked off with the children, but he called me back.

"Yes?"

"You must stay." He said, sitting on the table. I couldn't help but figure he wanted something. He tried leaning in, kissing me, but I pulled away, wiping my mouth, smacking his cheek.

"What is wrong with you?"

"You dare hit me? I thought we would soon be together!"

"Chaunce…we are! I…I'm just nervous, plus I'm saving something special for tomorrow night. I don't want to ruin it." I winked. He smirked nodding quickly.

"You rest up for tomorrow!" he said, shooing me off. I smiled, dashing off and up to my room, locking the door. I threw myself on the bed, covering my face, screaming into my pillow. I couldn't fathom how he had kissed me. I let someone else's lips touch mine instead of Hatter's. My stomach tightened and I let out a moan, holding it. Why did I miss him so?

I watched as someone turned the knob on my bedroom door. I stared, seeing Chaunce standing there, grinning.

"You intruded." I stated, trying to sound mature. He chuckled.

"I sensed you needed some guidance."

"How so?"

"Chauncella, being a Queen is delightful! I sense that you feel unappreciated. You bring your sister here and she's all over the White Queen. McTwisp betrays you with one harmful letter that almost cost your life against that damned Hatter. Oh yes, of course…him! He struck you across the face, didn't he?"

I opened my mouth to protest, but something more important came to mind.

"How do you know all of this?"

He took my hand. "Chaunce gives everyone another chance. You're a queen and you don't need that kind of drama." He let go and walked back out of the door.

In a way, he was right. I know my sister would always love me, but she lingers by the side of Mirana…a lot. Tarrant did hit me…and McTwisp could have ripped the letter up OR rewrote it…

Was this the "charmed" life I was destined to lead?

That next day

Everyone looked at me before I could get my chance to walk down the isle.

"You just look darling." Said one of my maids. I feigned a smile, nodding.

"Thank you." To my surprise, my dress wasn't green, it was purple. I shrugged my shoulders. A decent color, I suppose. I tried not to cry, but I couldn't, which sparked nothing but conversation amongst the ladies as they talked of me being depressed. I certainly was. Everyone had gone inside, leaving me out here alone to fend for myself, deciding if I should walk or not. If I do, I'm damned to eternal unhappiness, and bratty kids who stuff their faces all day long. And if I do, I could get all my friends killed. This was difficult. I started moving slowly towards the door, until a hand was on my shoulder. I turned around, seeing Stayne on his horse, accompanied by many others on horses as well with pitchforks and torches.

"You're a little early for your wedding, my dear."

"Sir!" I smiled up at him. This was the first time I was happy to see his face since…ever!

"Shhh, you wait out here and we shall fight." He spoke softly. While still on horseback, he moved towards the doors, opening them and charging inside, attacking. There was shrieking and screams coming from inside. I waited, seeing almost everyone exit the small chapel. When I realized that Chaunce hadn't come out, I knew he was either finished, or off hiding somewhere. Stayne came out, scratches on his face, worst than his prior ones.

"You're hurt!" I said.

He chuckled a little.

"Never mind me." He said, helping me mount the house. I held around his waist, turning around when I heard Chaunce's squeaky voice calling my name.

"Chauncella! Leilani! Help!" he said, being dragged inside the chapel as it began burning on the inside. I frowned closing my eyes tightly and resting on Stayne's back.

"Where to, milady?" he asked.

"The White Queen, just up ahead!" I pointed. He nodded.

"Right!" he yelled. But as the silence continued on, he spoke once more. "Where'd you get such a ridiculous looking hat?"

I bit my lower lip in happiness. "A very special somebody gave it to me."

"It's quite odd, but odd is better than normal and plain."

"I couldn't agree with you more, Sir."

Sometime that night

I inhaled, smiling as I stared upon the castle. Home-Sweet-Some, at last. I watched as everyone came out to greet me. Stayne hurried off to find his companions, while I stared, hugging everyone. Elizabeth came out, hugging me tightly, sobbing a little.

"Are you married now?" She asked, once everyone was staring upon me.

"I am not. I escaped before the ceremony began." I explained. I turned, seeing the most unusual sight ever. Mirana…was holding Tarrant's hand, fingers laced.

Tarrant looked at me and away. Both of them looked ashamed.

"The Queen and Tarrant are smitten with each other." Said Dormouse. I raised an eyebrow.

"Aye? Is this true?" I asked.

They looked at each other and then both back to me. Tarrant put his arms around Mirana, holding her close. A look of guilt was in the air, from the couple as well as from me. This was my fault, partially.


	11. Chapter 11

It felt as though someone had drove a knife through my world and torn it to shreds.

"It's sort of an experiment," He tried to explain, hoping that I wouldn't take anything the wrong way. The queen shot him a dark glare. He jumped a little. "Well…it's true." He was quiet on his sentence.

I couldn't believe this. Reaching up, upon my head, I grabbed his hat that I planned to wear as I walked down the isle. With my muscles tense and tightened, I couldn't help but grasp it tightly, tossing it on the ground at his feet. I darted past everyone, running up and to my room. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, I was confused. I was pacing back and forth. Gone for five months and this happens. Maybe life with Chaunce wasn't going to be so bad after all. Tarrant and them seemed pretty content while I was gone so what served my purpose as another body here? Just a waste of space and a perfectly nice room! But, my mixed emotions stopped when Tarrant appeared in my room.

"Leilani?" he asked.

I pointed my finger at him.

"You…You stay away from me! I have no words for you, Mister Tarrant Hightopp."

"Leilani let me explain."

"There's no explaining to do! In simple words, I'm nothing to you anymore."

He looked annoyed. "I loved you…and without you here life was purely hectic! It's unlawful to take a King's wife, which will result in her death and mine as well."

"I'm not married!" I yelled.

He blinked, gazing upon me. I felt trapped in those big, green eyes of his. A part of me wanted to rush forth, kissing him, having him whisper in my ear that everything would be okay. And yet, if I were to do such an action, the Queen would surely find out.

"You're not?"

"Didn't you hear me?" I asked him, crossing my arms and sitting on the bed, gazing out at the window.

"I thought you were lying." He spoke.

I faced him, seeing him looking away from me, toying with his large hat in his hands.

"Well I hope you're happy. You get this big, GRAND castle, with all the food you can eat, all the necessary equipment to make hats, and the most beautiful woman in Underland. Boy, isn't life purely swell for Mr. and Mrs. Hightopp," I spoke as tears started forming in my eyes. I stood up, pacing the room back and forth. Why was I feeling this way? This…this feeling inside of me made my stomach feel like it was twisting, like my heart was turning to nothing but black, carved coal. I closed my eyes tightly, opening them back to glare at Tarrant. But, the next feeling in my stomach made me do something I hated to do when I was upset: be jealous. "How did this happen?"

"The Queen and I were talking one day. We both went for a quick walk after I was done mourning over you and she kissed me. It was quite nice, actually. At that point all my worries were gone, for the time being and then-"

I stomped my foot. "I don't want to hear about it!"

"But you just asked!"

"Never mind what I say," I told him. It was silent until I realized he didn't answer the first part of my question. "You must be happy, right?"

He was silent as well. He moved, walking to the chair in front of the window, peering out of it and turning back to me. He stood up, walking over to me, raising his hands and placing his hat on my head.

"I'm not sure if I am happy," he said. He looked confused for a moment and looked me in the eye. "Why are you questioning me like I'm some child? I'm not Elizabeth. You can't snap your fingers at me and expect me to do your every waking command, Alice."

I was still, almost able to pass for a statue on display with the title underneath it, saying: "Heart-broken girl in shock."

I turned to him slowly, smacking him across the face, getting up and leaving. Alice? Alice? He had called me by my mother's name. The woman who bore no resemblance to me at all. Heck, I'm surprised he didn't call me Mirana! But yet, I took that as a sign that he wanted to be with my mother more than he wanted to be with Mirana, more than he wanted to be with me. I grabbed my blanket, the blanket he rescued for me, tossing it around my shoulders, heading out of the door.

Mirana came out of the castle.

"Leilani! Leilani, where are you going?" She asked in a somewhat concerned voice. I turned around to her, shooting a glare at her. She looked taken aback by my look, so she just hurried inside, calling for the Hatter.

It was an hour later when I realized something, sitting here alone in this forest, staring out into the sunset. How could five months of finding someone new like Mirana beat only two days with me? I couldn't believe that they were finally finding the ones they needed the most. I couldn't believe that I would never get that chance with Tarrant, ever for that matter. When the Queen likes something, she never lets go unless strongly persuaded or by force. I heard rustling of leaves and I figured it was just the wind brushing leaves past. I paid it no mind. I saw a smaller, thin fragile-looking squirrel, trying hard to crack open an acorn. In an attempt to help it, another squirrel came along, taking the nut and cracking it for the smaller squirrel. I sniffled a little, getting emotional for no known reason at all.

"Hello." I jumped at the randomness of a voice. I turned around slowly, hoping it wasn't who I thought it was. Oh, but it was.

"Hi." I said softly. The man with orange hair came, sitting right next to me.

"Have you any idea why a raven is like a writing desk?"

I thought about it, spending a few extra moments in pure silence. "Because Poe wrote on both?" I asked, turning to him.

He shook his head with a bashful grin upon his face. "It's not supposed to have an answer."

I chuckled, looking away from him. "Hatter, why did you come?"

"To discuss the situation with you, Mirana and I."

I groaned. "Not this, again."

"Yes, this again."

"You called me Alice."

"But you are her daughter."

"But I do have my own identity, thank you very much. If you don't mind, I'd like to be called Leilani."

He looked at me. "Why did you act that way back there?"

"Are you trying to make me prove something?"

"If only you admit it before I can prove it to you."

He was so clever, full of logic in the weirdest ways, and could change anyone's mind, just by pure confusion.

"What happened at the castle is none of anyone's right mind."

"What about mine?"

"Especially yours." I said, my voice raising slightly.

"You're getting that way again. You're jealous."

I frowned. "I am not jealous! I am just…frustrated that you found someone else whereas I'm here, lingering in my own problems. I should have gotten married if I knew you fancied Mirana."

"I don't fancy her."

"Then why stay?"

"Because, you are being extremely difficult. It's like a mind game that never ends with you."

I could not take this frustration any longer. I grabbed his collar.

"I confess! I confess! Just leave me alone, already! I confess that I want someone here to crack open my acorn for me." I used the acorn situation with the squirrels and referred it to the weaker acorn as me and the stronger as him, the Hatter. This was just my way of saying, uneasily, that I needed him by my side.

He looked around, picking up an acorn.

"There's one right there." He said, handing it to me. I snatched it and threw it across the way.

"I don't want an acorn, I don't want anything in this world. Tarrant…I lo-"

I stopped myself short, seeing him turn his head away from me, obviously sick of my nagging. I placed my hand to his face where it was red. He flinched a bit from the coldness of my fingers.

"It hurts." He said, rubbing his cheek.

"I did that?" I asked, rubbing it a little bit.

"I have two. One from the white queen, one from you." He had an uneasy smirk on his face. I calmed down just a little, trying to change the subject for now.

"It brings back memories, this forest."

"Aye, it does." He spoke, nodding in agreement. I looked out of the corner of my eye, seeing him staring deeply into the orange horizon. It reminded me of his hair. How could I ever stay mad at this charming fellow? I leaned in close, kissing his hurting cheek. He turned to me, a small smile crossing his lips.

"That's for the slap." I said, turning his head a little to go and kiss the other slap.

"And that?"

"in favor of the queen, herself."

He stared into my eyes, holding my hand in his. That feeling, this spot was the most magical spot ever. To think these forests have been burned down by the Red Queen and still have the horizon make it so beautiful. But yet, that didn't matter. All that mattered next was the action that almost happened. He leaned in to kiss me but I laid my hand on his chest.

"What's wrong?"

"What about the queen?"

He sighed. "We talked and I told her I didn't love her like I said I did."

"And you did that…for me?"

He nodded his head, grinning.

"Aye, I did." He said, his Scottish accent appearing again. He leaned in once more to kiss me but I stopped him.

"Wait…you didn't let me finish what I started to say." I told him.

"Go on." He nodded.

I leaned close to his ear.

"I love you, too. Took me a while, but I finally know how I feel, Tarrant." I told him. He looked me in the eyes, shock on his face, until he lightened up a little, leaning in to kiss me, finally receiving what he had desired all along…for so long.


	12. Leilani's Journal Entry

**[DISCLAIMER: This is an idea I had earlier on today at school during Geometry. I know, very random. Anyway, this isn't really pertinent information, but it does drop "subtle" hints about what's to happen in the next chapter. What I'm saying is that this little diary entry is optional…though I do suggest you read it as well. Oh yeah, the date is probably off but all I know is that it's in the 1800s. Victorian Era, right? **

November 30, 1874

Dear Diary,

I have stared at these blank pages long enough, not knowing what to write; as much drama that's been occurring in the past, what's not to write about? I guess I was just caught up in being a good big sister, a respectable belle, and having a low profile when it came to the Queen. I wondered if she was still mad at me for apparently "taking" Tarrant away from her. It isn't my fault that I've grown to love him even though I've told myself before that he wasn't the one for me. I couldn't stand him at first…I just wanted to wring his neck. But, there came a day when I grew excited from catching a glimpse at him…

But, over the course of two months, the weather has changed down here in good ole Underland. Yes, indeed, it has. It's gone from splendid brown, orange, and red leaves upon the trees, to all the leaves on the ground as well. The trees were completely bare. Not only the weather seems to be changing, but the people down here are as well. I'll explain myself further. I've woken up these past few months next to Tarrant holding me close. But, this week he's just been gone, him and nearly half the castle. The only known people here were the Queen's eccentric guests and me, staying inside. I turned to my window one time to see everyone, my sister, Tarrant and all, trotting back towards the castle, looking like a job has been done. I would ask what's going on but they'd ignore me, tell me it's none of my concern, and I've felt down.

Why, even my Elizabeth was keeping something from me. She and Tarrant have grown close now. Me, being twenty-four and her being thirteen, she's growing much more into her features as mother. She resembled her greatly, which almost scared me. I'd come into the common room to find them whispering frantically and excitedly and when I'd come in, it would die down. What was that lot about? I'd ask what was going on and they'd just shrug, sigh, and do anything but talk about the previous topic. Something's going on, and it's making me feel unwelcome in this castle. I needed to get out. Get out of Underland? No, no, too risky, besides…this is the place for me. Get out of the castle? Possibly! What if they were plotting against me? Everyone would have a reason to plot against me. I've shouted at Chess, I've brought home the Queen's brother too late, stolen her love, I've argued one too many times with Tarrant and I abandoned both him and Elizabeth. If anyone should be upset with me, it's myself, for harming those I've cared about.

I hear someone coming, most likely Tarrant. He's come for bed, so I will write later.

Fairfarren~

Leilani Kingsley (Hightopp)

PS: Tarrant doesn't have to know about the little excess change in my name. Let's keep that a secret, shall we?


	13. Chapter 12

I closed my diary quickly, looking quickly for a place to hide my thoughts. I watched Tarrant enter slowly, looking at me with a smile upon his face. I tucked my diary underneath the covers, laying it on my lap. I had no words for him, for I was thinking.

"What is it that you have there?" He pointed to the square outline on my lap. Uh-oh, what was I to do now?

"A book." I answered nervously.

"What kind of book?"

"A book for me. It's my own personal book."

"I haven't seen you with it before, give it here."

"No." I said, shoving it under the bed quickly.

He looked confused. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," I said, shifting underneath the covers, attempting to get to bed. "Good night."

He kicked off his shoes and climbed into bed. That's a pet peeve I've always had. He slept in his clothes that he wore all day, sometime. He climbed on top of me, trying to reach for the book.

"Let me have a read!" he tried assuring me. I pushed him away.

"No!" I said, pushing him down on the bed, looking into his eyes.

"What's wrong? You seem different."

I sighed and climbed under the covers. "You're one to talk."

He looked puzzled at my choice of words.

"Me? What did I do this time?"

I turned over, facing him. "You all are keeping me out of the conversation. I've felt left out and unwanted, I've contemplated on running away from the castle. Not even me and my own sister talk and that's a problem!"

He grinned a little and climbed on top of me, bending down and kissing my lips. Unsatisfied, I turned my head, trying to block him from kissing me.

"Suit yourself, this only makes it easier for me, you do know that, right," he asked, kissing down my neck. I closed my eyes slowly.

"No, Tarrant, I'm very mad at you." I tried saying in a steady breath, but I couldn't. It was like a pleasant massage.

"We'll see," he said in a whisper as he moved down to my collarbone, nibbling right there. I could feel his hands caressing my waist gently, until he down into my eyes. "If it's okay with you."

I thought about it for a second. Was this what I really wanted? I blushed at the thought and nodded, biting my lower lip.

"Of course it's okay with me." I smiled a little at him. He grinned and kissed my lips softly, as though he thought I'd never approve of this.

Morning came at last. The brightness from the sun shining above woke me up rather quickly. I sat up, rubbing my eyes at the same time, until I felt a breeze come across my chest. That was odd. I looked down, only to see my revealing bare chest, and apparently bare body. What happened last night? I brought the covers up to my chest in pure shock. I looked around the room. Yet again, another morning waking up without the Hatter; why wasn't I surprised? I gasped, trying to lay back down when I heard footsteps and the clicking of the doorknob turning. I brought the covers all the way up to my chin but it was too late.

"Who are you fooling, Leila? Get up." Tarrant said as he walked into the bedroom.

"Why must you always get up before I do nowadays?"

He smirked at me and sat on the bed. "Because "nowadays" I am rather busy. The queen waits for no man…or in your case, no woman."

I rolled my eyes softly, looking into his big green ones. And thus, something caught my eye quickly. I turned my attention to the red book neatly situated in his hands. It resembled my journal.

"Is that MY diary?"

He cocked his head to the side. "What is a diary?" He was playing stupid!

"Don't toy with me."

He shrugged his shoulders. "That book you were writing in? Ugh, dreadful little thing it was. Why on Earth would I touch it if you told me not to?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and peered underneath the bed in search of it. It was gone!

I sat back up straight, infuriated to see that A) my diary wasn't there and B) He had made off with it, knowing I couldn't catch him fast enough because I was naked. I screamed into my pillow, banging on the bed. I quickly got dressed and dashed down the stairs.

"Tarrant!" I called, but he was already running out into the woods.

He turned around, leaning on a tree. "Ah, I do say, Leila, I enjoy you just as you were before." He teased. My cheeks grew hot as I dashed towards him, but he took off yet again.

"Tarrant! Come back here!" I yelled. I almost fell out of breath when he turned, coming to a stop, and turning to look at me. I raised an eyebrow. Was this some sort of trap, I wondered.

"Surprise." He said softly to me. I stared upon the large black house. It looked very odd and unordinary but extravagant. I wondered closely how he had managed to create two floors on the house. It had some leaves draping across it and the windows looked shiny and spotless. The door opened slowly, coming out to reveal the Tweedles, McTwisp, shockingly-the Queen, the March Hare, Dormouse, and Elizabeth. They all looked at me closely; a smile perched upon each of their faces.

"Surprise." They said softly to me.

I bit my lower lip, attempting to fight back tears.

"You all have done this for me?" I asked.

They nodded.

"Of course; we needed you out of the castle!" said the Tweedles. The Queen nudged them, leaving Elizabeth and Tarrant with a saddened look upon their faces. Everyone else went off to the castle as Tarrant ushered Elizabeth into the house. I stared at the Queen.

"What did they mean by that?"

"Oh you know the Tweedles, always saying something. Th-th-they didn't mean anything by what they said! Honestly, they just like getting a rise out of some people." Tarrant said nervously as he exited the house.

"Tarrant, she must know what's going on."

"Tell me, what's happening?"

They both sighed as if in unison and began speaking.

"You're in danger, we all are."

I instantly got a headache.

"How is this possible? Stayne helped defeat Chaunce."

"It's not only him." She spoke.

I raised an eyebrow.

"You mean he's not dead?"

"Oh he is…but he's received more power. You see, Chaunce is a Vladitoriac. Vladitoriac's such as himself are highly spiritual and easily influenced, unless they are dead. Since he is dead, his spirit lurks among a world outside of Underland-"

"You mean my world?"

Tarrant and the Queen both nodded. "He'll choose someone close to you. Could be your father, could be anyone. It's at random so it's hard to figure it out unless signs show."

"So my father could possibly destroy Underland? And what if it's my best friend? What if we think she's Chaunce and end up killing her without even knowing it?"

"Like I said, the signs will show on whether or not it's her. She'll attempt to destroy relationships such as friendships, sisterhoods…love relationships." She glanced at Tarrant for a few seconds and back to me.

"This is insane."

"It is, and if any other human being other than a champion or close relative of a champion comes to Underland, they'll figure out our secret."

"But, there's no possible way of leaving without your help."

"Still," she said solemnly. "It can do damage. People will investigate and find out."

I turned to both of them, as my head began spinning uncontrollably. What was happening with me? I ran towards the house, closing the door and examining it all, even though I felt faint. There were rooms everywhere on the first floor and on the second floor-hell; I didn't even try walking up those stairs for I was so lightheaded. But, after trying to press my weight on the counter, I couldn't deal any longer. I fell flat on the cold floor.

I woke up to see Tarrant and Elizabeth watching over me. I raised an eyebrow, not recognizing my surroundings.

"Where am I?"

They looked at each other and back to me. "You're in your new home." Tarrant spoke. I smirked, nodding a little.

"Ah yes, now I remember!"

"Well, you must get ready because it's time for dinner." He spoke. Elizabeth looked frightened.

"You know how to cook?" She asked.

"Naughty, everyone knows how to cook. Don't you?" He asked.

Elizabeth nodded. "Of course I do."

"I cannot." I spoke.

"Why not?"

"At home, they forbade women from cooking. It was against our laws at home," I spoke. And yet, once I thought about it, I missed my large grand house dearly, although this was-certainly-a nice house. "I could just serve the dishes at a family gathering." I was solemn now.

"Well, hurry, it's time for dinner." He said. Elizabeth helped me walk towards the kitchen as we saw nothing on the table.

"It's empty…" We both said in unison.

"We use our imagination, here. Plus, you'll learn how you get your fill afterwards." He said.

I sighed heavily, in the need of some food.

"Perhaps we shall go to the Queen for tonight's dinner. I can learn some recipes just before dinner." I spoke, uneasily. Pulling Tarrant from the table, all three of us walked from our cottage to the Queen's castle.

Tarrant and Elizabeth entered but I stayed outside, getting an uneasy feeling about what's to come.

"Chauncella." I heard someone whisper. I jumped, my stomach fluttering with butterflies.

"Who's there?" I asked loudly. I turned all around, looking out into the woods, in the direction of our house. I felt a cold hand on my shoulder and I jumped, turning around to see Tarrant looking at me.

"Are you okay?" He asked me.

I furrowed my eyebrow, fanning myself. Though it was a chill outside, I was so very hot.

"I can't breathe." I told him, panicking now.

"Let's get you inside." He spoke softly, helping me. I must have stumbled inside a lot of times because he was getting quite impatient with me.

"I'm okay." I said, sitting at the dinner table. I've been able to tolerate their kind of food but today was far different.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Asked the Tweedles in unison.

I stared into space as a green aroma was levitating in the background. It took the form of the face I've once known before.

"Chauncella!" it whispered.

I gasped, screaming as it grew nearer and nearer.

"Leilani!" Whispered Elizabeth. I looked down at my sister and back to where Chaunce's face was. It had disappeared.

"I…I saw him. I saw Chaunce!"

They all looked at me.

"You're just upset that he'll be back, soon." Said the Queen.

"How can I not be upset when all your lives are in danger for the fact that I didn't want to marry him?"

"If you didn't marry him then you wouldn't be with me." Tarrant said, rubbing my thigh. I sighed heavily.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to learn how to cook." I spoke, leaving the table. As I walked, I could sense everyone's eyes peering at the back of my head. Uncomfortable, but at least I was learning. I walked in to a desolate, messy kitchen. I could hear a faint murmur as I walked towards the cabinet. I opened it, seeing the chef blindfolded. He fell out, leaving me to gasp, standing there in shock.

I heard a cracking noise and I turned, trying to find out where the source of it was. But, I came across a shadow, a short shadow, the same figure as that dreadful little bugger, Chaunce.

"My Chauncella, I have come for you, yet again my dear."

I gulped, my stomach hurting.

"You're just a figment of my imagination. You're not real!"

"Keep telling yourself that. All that matters is that one of us knows the truth."

I thought about it.

"And what is the truth in this situation?"

His voice turned into a creepy, spine tingling whisper. "Truth is...I'm as real as they can get." He spoke, never revealing himself from the shadows.

"If not a figment, then you're one of the Tweedles. And when I come out of this room, you'll be gone and Tweedle-Dee or Tweedle-Dum will be standing there."

"Try your luck." He spoke. I rushed to the door, trying to escape to know that I'm not crazy. Yet, as I turned the corner, there was no one there. I backed into the room. I screamed as the candles turned over, falling on the floor, surrounding me. There wasn't a way to hop over it as it began spreading.

"Help!" I called. But the only thing I heard was the sound of his laughter ringing in my ears.


	14. Chapter 13

I stared upon everyone as I lay in the hospital wing of the White Queen's castle. They all looked disgusted, especially the Queen's chef who was bandaged on his forehead and such. They all looked as though they didn't want to be near me. I let out of a cough and quickly the Hatter handed me my glass of water. I tried clearing my throat and taking a sip, which helped for a few seconds.

"Why did you do it?" He spoke softly.

I raised an eyebrow.

"Do what? What are you talking about?"

"You know what we're talking about. Last night after dinner, you went to learn how to cook, but when we went to check on things, we saw nothing but the kitchen in a mess." Elizabeth said as she crossed her arms.

"Your point? The kitchen is always in a mess. It's not my fault the damned hare doesn't know any human food that we eat." I shrugged nastily.

"Not only that." Tarrant said.

"Well what else is there to explain?"

"We walked inside and saw you surrounded by candles. Your dress was on fire, luckily your body wasn't. You had cloth in your hands, as though you tied up the chef. Why did you do it?" He asked.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. "No, no, I didn't tie up the chef. He was like that. He was stuffed in a cabinet, honest!"

"You mean to say you found him like that? Nothing else happened, you say?" Asked the Queen.

"Bloody hell, I would have told you. I would have confessed and let karma hit me as much as it pleased but I didn't do it. I heard voices."

Everyone began whispering frantically.

"Voices? Like what?" Tarrant asked.

"Chaunce…he was calling me by the name he gave me, Chauncella. He was in the castle last night! He still is!" I pleaded.

"There was no one in the house, Leila." Elizabeth spoke to me softly.

"Then it was one of the Tweedles! It had to be!"

They looked at each other. "We were having dinner until we all smelled the fire. We weren't anywhere near the kitchen."

"Maybe you need to see a specialist about these voices." Concurred McTwisp.

I banged on my sheets. "I'm not going mad! This isn't the first time."

"So you've been having these for a while now?" A doctor said as he walked inside.

I stared at him blankly, my mouth open just a little bit.

"No, I didn't say that. You're putting words in my mouth."

"You said it."

"No, what I meant was that I saw him, too. I saw Chaunce!" I spoke.

"Did you encounter him?" he asked, taking out a notepad.

"It wasn't face-to-face. It was just…I was speaking to his shadow, that's it." I said. The queen shook her head slowly as if in shame that it had to turn out this way.

"You do realize you're constantly changing your story, right?" Asked the specialist.

I growled. "I'm not crazy! I just can't be anywhere near the castle. Something bad is going to happen."

He sighed heavily and looked all around. "I need to have a word with Miss Astor and her family members." He spoke.

Everyone began leaving except for Elizabeth who was standing at my bedside, stroking my hair.

"Hatter, wait!" I called softly. He turned, walking back over quickly.

"What's wrong with her?" He asked, concerned.

"As far as I'm concerned, she has Dementia."

I felt like dying. "I do NOT have dementia. And I'm not in denial, for I know I'm not going mad. You're all bloody mad for not believing me."

They stared at me before continuing on talking.

"Dementia isn't contagious but I suggest no direct contact with this patient. It could make it worst, as far as we know." He spoke, walking off. I reached for Tarrant's hand, but he pulled it away.

"I'm sorry." He spoke softly. I became frustrated, trying to hold all of my anger inside.

"I do not have Dementia."

He stared at me, his eyes glowing red. He grabbed some equipment from the room, tossing them all around, growling.

"Why must you always be sick! Why can't you stay a night in our house? Do you make yourself sick?"

I got out of the bed, despite the specialist and Elizabeth refraining me. I walked over to him, placing my hands to his face.

"There's nothing wrong with me." I told him. His eyes shifted from red to green to purple as he tried to kiss me. Instead, he stopped, kissing my forehead gently before pushing me away.

"Come now, Elizabeth." He said. My sister raced to Tarrant as she held his hand, walking off with him. My bottom lip quivered as I dropped to my knees.

"You must take your medicine. Don't fret."

I panicked. "Medicine? I don't need any medicine!"

"You just have to open your mouth and swallow it!"

I got in the bed, crossing my arms. "I utterly refuse!"

"Just take the pill." He said, taking it from his pocket. I shook my head, pressing my lips closed until he sighed heavily. "Just know that if you don't take the pill, you will be in here far more than you'd expect to be." He handed the pill to me and I studied it, sniffing it a few times. It smelled like stale chocolate, even tasted like it too. I coughed a little as it slithered down my throat just a little bit. I could feel my head getting lighter as though I were floating.

"I feel…great, actually." I smiled slightly to myself. The voice inside told me not to continue taking pills from him again, but I, myself, wanted to do it, for the sake of "getting better" even though I wasn't mentally harmed as they all played me out to be.

"Good girl." He smirked, walking off.

Its been two months since I've been locked away in here from my friends and family. Just last night the doctor told me that I was doing better but I told him I was always better. He said he didn't believe my lies and that would cost me another month. I was forced to block all unnecessary thoughts of Chaunce out of my mind, for my sake, at least. I closed my hurting eyes slowly as I heard someone entering the room.

"Miss Kingsley, was it?"

"Yes, that is I."

He smirked a little. "Well, I'm very glad to say that you seem to be very well and back to normal. I hope your stay here was much enjoyable."

_Why would I enjoy staying in a hospital? _

I nodded curtly. "It was quite pleasant. Does this mean I can return home?"

He patted my knee. "You're free from here." He spoke. I grinned and hopped out of the bed, fixing my hair just a little as I raced down the castle stairs, hurrying out the door, walking home. I knocked on the door, only to see Elizabeth looking at me.

"Leilani!" She screamed, hugging me tightly. I stroked the young girl's hair softly, watching as Tarrant came over. He was shocked, surprised that I was ever here.

"You're back!" He said, coming over and joining the hug.

"Doctor's word. He said I'm all better." I smiled, biting my lower lip.

Tarrant let go so that I was able to walk but Elizabeth clung to me like a child to its mother.

"Tarrant was just teaching me how to Futterwacken!" She said, moving to the center of the living room. I took a seat on the odd couch as Tarrant came up beside me.

"Once more, my dear." He spoke. She nodded, lifting her dress just a little bit and imitating the dance that he always loved.

I turned, looking out the window a bit, seeing something rummaging in the shadows. I got a slight headache and held my forehead a bit. I instantly became nauseous and I held my stomach. Getting up, I rushed to the bathroom quickly, dropping to my knees and becoming sick. I rinsed my mouth out and came back to the living room.

"Are you okay?" Asked Tarrant as he held my shoulders.

I shook my head. "I'm not. I just need to lie down." I said to him. Elizabeth looked disappointed.

"I thought you said you were better."

I nodded. "I am better. I just don't feel good."

She came over to me and patted my stomach.

"You packed on a few, didn't you?" She teased. I glared at her.

"I was very hungry when they brought out the foods. They served me nothing but buttered fingers and fish heads. That night they all looked pretty good to me. So, to answer your question, Elizabeth, yes, I magically gained some weight but I don't need you confirming that for me." I told her as I marched up the stairs, to the bedroom as I grabbed the doorknob, slamming it behind me. I sat on the bed, kicking my shoes off and throwing them at the wall. Was I really sick now? What's happening to me?

"Leila?"

I looked at the door to see Tarrant.

"What?"

"Maybe we should take you back to the hospital."

"I said I'm fine." Surprisingly, after my outburst, I was calm. Possibly this was bottled up anger from when they accused me of being insane. Now I know how mother felt. I must be one good daughter because I haven't visited her in maybe three years. I sighed heavily, watching as Tarrant went in the front of the room, taking off his hat as he began to dance, vigorously. I smirked to myself, trying to contain my laughter, but he was laughing as well. I covered my mouth, laughing. He stopped and climbed in the bed with me.

"Glad someone can make you laugh when you're upset." He sighed, climbing on top of me. I frowned and pushed him away.

"I just want some rest, Tarrant."

"That works fine also." He shrugged.

Now I was picking up on his habits, sleeping in my daytime clothes. Not caring, I just closed my eyes, drifting off to sleep.

_In my dream I could see myself, Tarrant and Elizabeth both. Elizabeth has somebody in a wheelchair. I watched as they walk away from me slowly. _

"_What's wrong with you guys?" I call, but they dare not answer, nor speak a word to me. Just then the person in the wheelchair vanishes. I turn to walk away, slightly scared, but something refrained me from happening. It was mother. She was wrinkled with wild gray hair. She seemed to look older for her age. She grabbed my shoulders, shoving me against the wall. She pointed an unsteady finger at my face._

"_You brought me to my hell. You will pay, now."_

"_Mother I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"_

_She laughed as she leaned close to my ear. "You will see."_

"_See what? See what?"_

_She looked down, placing her hand on my belly, sending nothing but nausea throughout my stomach once again. _

"_They have come, willing to tear Marmoreal down to the ground. Disguised as a loved one, they will be. Sent down from our world. Protect the two of you." She whispered._

"_Two of who?"_

_She grinned, looking me up and down, slowly. She clapped her hands in front of my face, dust blowing in it. _

"_You betrayed me." She said softly, running off. I tried catching her but it was Tarrant on the Bandersnatch. He was grinning at me with those red eyes of his._

"_Tarrant, you have to get me out of here." I said, climbing on the bandersnatch. He growled at me and shoved me off. _

"_It's too late for that, now, Alice." He spoke, taking out his sword. He raised it slowly._

"_No, No!" I yelled._

I screamed, sitting up in the bed. The pushing feeling on my stomach was my initial reason why I jumped out of my bed and out to the bathroom. I bent down over the toilet, holding my hair back as I once again repeated my action that I did before. I wiped my eyes and tears formed. Rinsing my mouth, I walked out of the bathroom and to the bedroom once more. There was Tarrant, standing by the door.

"I-I heard a scream."

I cleared my throat.

"It's nothing, I promise you. Try to go back to sleep, please." I said, walking from the room and down the stairs to get some tea.

"Should you be settling for something when clearly you are ill?" He came, sitting next to me at the table.

"I'm hungry." I said. He looked at me as though I've gone mad.

"Are you sure you're okay? You wake up screaming and head for the bathroom, where you become sick for the second time this night."

"It was hours apart." I told him nastily. He looked at the clock.

"We were sleeping for only fifty minutes." He stated. I pouted, placing my hands on my head.

"I just don't feel good. I had a dream. Mother was warning me about someone. She said I had to keep the both of us safe."

"You and I? Or me and Lizzy?" He asked, patting my shoulder. I shook my head.

"It's almost as if it were neither of you. It's like someone else is going to come into the big picture."

"Maybe you should go back to-"

"Don't tell me I'm crazy when I'm not! It's just a dream!"

He sighed. "I understand that. Maybe you should just…go to see why you keep getting sick."

I looked at him and shrugged. "I guess it would be best."

"Come on, lets go." He said.

"I'll go by myself. You stay here with Elizabeth."

Tarrant looked at me, and without even asking me, the look on his face said: 'are you sure?' Being that I wanted to keep my sister safe more than I wanted to keep, I nodded to him, slipping on my shoes as I walked out of the door.

As I walked in the starry night to the castle, I felt a drop of water hit my shoulder. And yet, it wasn't water. It was snow. The fluffy white substance that made the slightest ugliest sight look even beautiful. I walked inside, crept is more like it. I headed up the stairs to the hospital wing and instantly he was waiting for me.

"I saw you arriving."

"I'm sick." I told him as I took a seat.

"Sick as in the dementia?"

I looked him in the eyes. "I'm really not sure." I said softly.

"Rest, and we'll run some test for you." He spoke. I nodded softly and sighed, panicking. What if I were seriously ill?

Around two hours later the doctor came back, smiling widely at me.

"What's the verdict?" I asked softly, scared about what he'd say.

"Your dementia wasn't detected, you're perfectly fine."

"Nothing abnormal happened to me or is going to happen?" I asked. He looked me in the eyes.

"I wouldn't say so. But, there is one thing that won't go away for a long time now. Something really outrageously important." He said softly.

I nodded. "What is it?" He sighed and leaned forward. The words that came from his mouth made me want to faint. Me? This couldn't be happening to me. "Are you 100% sure?"

He looked at the charts. "The tests came back positive." I stood up, feeling my knees wobble. I was trembling all over, but yet there was a part of me that made me smile, overjoyed with what he spoke of.


	15. Chapter 14

.:. Tarrant .:.

I stared at the young girl as she lay in her bed. She was tossing and turning, as though she were about to wake up. I leaned against the wall inside of her room, knocking over a book that landed on the hardwood floor with a _THUMP! _I jumped a bit, picking it up slowly and putting it back. I turned to her, watching her wake from her slumber. She sat up in the bed, stretched and yawned. She opened her eyes and let out a small yelp at the sight of me in her doorway.

"Good morning, Tarry." She always called me Tarry because apparently saying my full name sounded too proper.

"I-I can go if you'd like." I offered. She stood up, holding her hands out for me to stop.

"No, I'm fine," She said, walking around the room for a few seconds. She went to her desk, looking at her dozens of books and turned to me slowly. "Was there something you needed?"

I gulped. "No not at all."

"Did you touch my books?" She asked me. I felt my heart thumping.

"Not at all."

She smirked and turned to her desk, noticing the book I dropped. "It's not alphabetized."

I chuckled a little at her and sighed heavily.

"Guilty." I shrugged a little. She looked confused.

"Is Leilani still sleeping?"

I looked down at my feet. "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? She's not dead is she? You killed her!" She pounded her fists on my chest and I grabbed them.

"She's at the castle. Back in the hospital."

Her eyes widened. "What happened this time?"

"She got sick, just like before." She stared into my eyes. She reminded me of Alice. Same face, same hair and eyes. Elizabeth was just her mini replica. I pushed her away from me a little as I walked away and down the stairs. Elizabeth came rushing behind me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it." She tried pleading.

"It's fine, Liz. I'm just upset."

"How come?"

"She's ill…and there's nothing I can possibly do for her."

"You can believe that she'll get better. Simple as that, Tarry. You love her and believe in her right, even when she didn't believe in herself?"

He looked at me and sat at the kitchen table, nodding. "I always did…and I always will."

"Then you can't blame yourself. You just have to believe she will get better."

"It's hard. What if she gives up on herself? What if she gets worst as we're speaking to her? I have to see her, NOW." I panicked. She stepped in front of me and smacked me hard. I stared in shock at the thirteen-year-old.

"What was that for?"

"You're being an idiot. Have you lost your mind?" She asked, her voice going high-pitched. I've never heard this before, nor have I noticed it in Alice…or even Leilani, for that matter.

"Mind?"

She groaned and grabbed my shoulders, shaking me.

"I believe you don't love her." She pouted.

"But I do, Liz, I really do."

"Name one thing about her you love and compare it to something."

I thought for a moment. "Her eyes…why, they make the stars look like they're not shining."

She stared at me and laughed. "Terribly cliché, my dear Hatter. Try again or else I'm not convinced." 

I thought harder. "I'm thinking," I told her harshly. She frowned, rolling her eyes and tapping her foot. "Her hair falls perfectly without her trying."

She shook her head. "Thinking isn't the same as feeling, Tarrant." She walked off.

"She knows that I would never ask her to change. If perfect what's she's searching for then she should just stay the same." She continued walking off.

"You're still thinking about this."

I became dizzy, possibly mad with love?

"Its people like her who make a rainy day sunny. Elizabeth, Leilani takes the pain away from me and makes a bad joke funny. She gives me butterflies and they just go about and fly in my stomach. Beauty shines from her eyes to her feet and I finally realized from that I meet, I'd probably never find another woman so sweet and I shouldn't…because she's the only girl that I need. And I pray everyday that she never goes and change, throw away her ways or forgets about my praise. I think about the days where I held her in my arms, I have yet to tell it to her face: 'I love the way you are'. Its amazing how she had me lovestruck in a second. Liz, I've never been craving such love and attention and you can't comprehend how she has me wanting more. I just hope she could keep being Leilani, so I could hers." I followed her up the stairs, chasing after her until Elizabeth stopped walking. She turned around, sporting a slight smile on her face.

"And?" She asked loudly.

I thought about it. "I love her…and I have a question to ask her."

Elizabeth smiled but quickly but it evaporated.

"Wait, what? What do you have to ask her?" She asked.

"Hurry, get dressed, quickly! Quickly now!" I shooed her off to her room as the thought pushed its way in my cranium. Was this the right choice? Was this what I wanted to do?

About a few minutes later, Elizabeth came down the stairs, hopping rather.

.:. Elizabeth's POV .:.

I linked arms with Tarrant as we walked along town. I've never been here before. I don't think Tarrant's been here too many times as well, for he seemed oddly…lost, just for a second. It was quite desolate, until I saw everyone gathering into a hat store and a jewelry store.

"I must have this! It goes with my dress!" A woman said. She had a snobbish attitude. I suspected she was high class.

"Yeah, it's a big diamond. It compliments your big-"

"Ladies, ladies, no need to fuss over this. Have your debating outside. We're in the company of minors." Said the owner as he pointed out the door to me. I shrugged a shoulder. I was just as mature as Leilani, even though Tarrant could pass for the child. I was more responsible, at least I'd think so. The two women stomped out and approached us.

"Well, look at what we have here. It's an awful shame how peasants get money. What did you do? Chimney sweep for a clown?" Asked a woman to Tarrant. He just glared at her, trying to remain calm.

"And you, darling, if your brother has, maybe you should, as well. It'll do you some good." She said, patting my shoulder. I pushed her hand away as we made our way inside. People often mistook me and Tarry for brother and sister. The weird thing is that when the three of us-Leilani, Tarry, and I- go out and about, they think we're siblings, no matter how cozy the two looked with each other. No wonder they'd give them dirty looks.

"Tell me, Tarrant. Why are we browsing for jewelry?"

He looked down at me. "Well you must know by now, Lizzie."

I stared up at him. "And if I don't?" I asked. He grinned at me and walked along, looking at the golden bands.

"How can I help you, sir?" The owner looked at Tarrant as though he were a monster.

Tarrant looked at the gold bands on display and sighed heavily.

"I've been considering things that begin with the letter M. Moron, massacre, madness, magnify, monopoly…marriage." He spoke. I gasped. The two men looked at me and covered my mouth.

"Sorry." I spoke.

They both smiled and turned back to each other.

"What are you looking for, exactly?" He asked.

Tarrant looked at them all and pointed to three that he liked.

"90 shillings, this one is."

Tarrant coughed and patted his chest. "90 shillings?" He asked.

"Oh, but of course it's a great ring for your fiancé, sir." Said the owner, grinning greedily. Tarrant turned to me. I dug in my pocket, taking out ten shillings.

"That's all I have." I told him.

He sighed, digging into his pockets, taking out a few shillings.

"All together we have fifty shillings."

The owner sighed.

"I'm sorry sir but I wouldn't accept anything lower than 90. You'll have to either postpone your engagement announcement or wait until you're ready."

"You'll up the price in a few months, you greedy git." I spat.

"Lizzie, please relax." He said, taking my hand as we left the store.

"He's cheating you! If it were those two ladies in there willing to buy that ring, he'd instantly give it to them for around fifty shillings!"

"I have an idea." He said, taking me back home. He gathered a few of his hats, standing outside the jeweler's. "Get your hats. For the big and tall, medium and small! Only forty shillings!"

I nudged him. "You need two rings…try upping the price."

"Forty-five shillings, then?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes. "All together it's going to be 180 shillings!"

He gulped. "180 shillings?" He called. He drew a small crowd.

"These hats are old and dull. I've seen the Red Queen wear these once and that's it."

"Perfect reason to buy it, right madame?"

"Wrong! She's gone missing, thanks to that brat, Leilani Ascot. Who's to think she hasn't killed her?"

"She saved Marmoreal for us all. You should be thankful."

"I guess so, even though we all made bets she would betray us in a heartbeat." Said the lady. Though I wasn't holding or touching the Hatter in any way, shape, or form, I could feel his muscles tense at the sound of what she just said.

"She didn't betray us. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm selling hats. If you care to buy one, please do so, if not then leave." He spoke. The woman stuck up her nose and walked off, dragging her child with her.

"I'll buy one for only 20 shillings. It's all I've got." Said a woman. Tarrant looked her over and with a weak smile upon his face, he handed her the hat and watched as she ran away without paying. I groaned, tired of this fuss already.

"Let's try inside." I tugged on his sleeve. He got on a stool once he was inside the shop, offering hats to the young and old, rich and poor. Still, not enough money. We were around 150 shillings short. I shook my head and watched as the owner took interest in the hats.

"My wife loves yellow and orange! How much for that one?" He yelled, going in the back to get his money. I looked around, seeing everyone concentrated on the hats. I snuck behind the display, taking two rings that were better than the ones Tarrant picked out. I grasped them in my hand tightly, sneaking from behind it. I tugged on Tarrant's sleeve.

"Let's go." I whispered.

He looked at me, much taller for he was on a stool.

"I need to make money."

"It's taken care of!" I whispered harshly to him. He sighed, giving the hats away, collecting money. As we walked out, Tarrant seemed disappointed that he couldn't get the rings.

"I wanted her to marry me."

"She'll marry you without them."

"But, she's high class. Women of that consideration like stuff like that."

"Stereotypes aren't good. So, I guess I shouldn't have taken these?"

He looked at me and gasped.

"Where on Earth did you get them?"

"From the jeweler. I took them." I smirked, slipping them in his pockets.

"We can't STEAL! We'll get caught!" he spoke, trying to get them from his pocket.

"No, you wanted rings, you picked out some, I got some better ones. You mustn't be afraid. Besides, you're such a good hatter, I doubt the owner will notice."

"And how are you certain?"

I stared at him and grinned softly.

"He wanted that yellow and orange hat. As far as I'm concerned, you sold it off to a woman. I'd be surprised if he doesn't take it off her head and runs away with it. You'll be shocked at what people do for love!" I explained.

He smirked a little and examined them.

"First thing I shall do once Leilani gets home is propose to her and make her my wife." He smiled, confidently.

I smiled to myself and looked up at him.

"Tarry, why haven't you aged at all?"

He looked down upon me and smirked.

"I…the Red Queen had Stayne put a curse on me. A dreadful thing, indeed. It causes me to stay at 6 o'clock for ever. I'm stuck in time, Lizzie."

My jaw dropped. "How do you break the curse?"

"The breaking of the queen's locket. I prefer to stay this way, for I shall not ever age."

"What about Leilani? I'm sure you wouldn't be so giddy when you're stuck in the body of a twenty year-old whereas she's old and your kids look older than you do. They'll think of you as some kind of weird person who has taken one too many sips from the fountain of youth. Is that what you want?"

He looked down at me and sighed.

"Not the slightest."

"Exactly, so where can I find the locket? No one knows. It wasn't in the castle, Chess told me so. It wasn't on the Red Queen, either." He shrugged. I began agitated.

"You do realize that if we never find it, or if no one ever locates it, you will be stuck like this forever?"

He turned to me, his eyes blue with sadness. I sighed heavily, rubbing his arm.

"We have to find it." He spoke.

.:. Leilani .:.

As it became dark, I was scared to walk along the woods at night. The Tweedles took it upon themselves to walk me home, seeing as I wasn't to be left out of anyone's sight.

"I do say, do you have the time, Tweedle-Dee?" I asked.

"It's around seven." He said in his nasally voice. I chuckled a little, unable to take my mind off of what the doctor told me. But, how would this affect everyone else? We made it to my front door and the three of us knocked.

Tarrant came to the door, hugging me tightly, lifting me in the air. I patted his arms to put me down, for I still felt sick.

"How are you feeling, love?"

I smiled a little. "I'm okay, doing better. I have news from the doctor." I said, walking inside. What did I just say? Why did I point this out? I should've just brought him to the doctor and he would tell him for me. The Tweedles followed inside as well.

"I thank you gentlemen for bringing Leilani home, safely. Here you go," Tarrant spoke, handing them both chocolates. "One a piece."

"Thanks Hatter!" They both said in unison as they pushed and shoved out of our front door.

"I have good news," He said to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Well, that is unless you wish to share yours first?"

"I'm fine, I'll tell you after YOU tell me. What is it?"

"Leilani Ascot, will you do the honor of marrying me…please?" He asked, oh-so politely. He was too polite for words, and more sweet than he was sour to the tongue. I stared at him, my eyes wide in shock. I sat on the couch, shaking my head slowly.

"No," I whispered.

"You don't want to marry me?"

"No, it's-"

"I thought you loved me." He spoke softly. The look on his face was one that reminded me of a child's. Oh, a "child's."

"I do, I love you with all of my heart, Tarrant."

"Then why won't you say yes?"

"Because I'm confused."

"About what?"

"I'm confused, Tarrant. I have news to tell you, but I'm unaware if it's good news…or bad news, so I don't want to ruin it."

"You'll have to tell me sometime or another."

I clasped my hands over my face and sighed heavily. I placed my hand on his knee, leaning forward and kissing him softly. He brought me more into the kiss, but stopped it, wondering why I was acting so strangely.

"Is it me? Because, I can change. I'll do anything for you." He said, taking my hands in his.

"Damnit," I whispered.

"This can't be good then."

I looked into his eyes.

"Th-th-the doctor said…my doctor, his name is Dr. Fendstone-"

"Yes?" He asked, looking me in the eyes even though I was not looking at him.

Why did he have to make this so uncomfortable for me?

I sighed heavily, my bottom lip trembling.

"Dr. Fendstone said-"

"Dr. Fendstone said?" His voice went high-pitched at the end as he asked the question, repeating my words.

"He said that…that I'm going to have your child." I whispered.

"What?" he asked softly.

Elizabeth came downstairs from her room. "What?" She nearly screamed.

"Lizzie, go back upstairs. We're discussing something. Please don't bother. We'll all talk in the morning." He spoke. She groaned, marching back up the stairs. He slowly turned to me.

"Are you sure?"

I sucked my teeth in annoyance. 

"Tarrant, I've never been so sure about anything in my life. I've gone to a doctor, received his word, and yes, I am sure." I told him, standing up and walking to the window. He followed behind me and put his hand on my shoulder.

"Why on earth would you think I'd be mad or upset at this?" he asked. I turned around, tears streaming down my face as I saw him.

"Because it'd get in the way of everything, plus what's going to happen soon with Chaunce and all that." I said to him, drying my tears.

"Well, don't be sad about it. I would never deny this. It's as amazing as the wedding. If not, better." He told me, trying to fight back a smile on his face to be serious. His twitching cheeks just made me start laughing.

"I love you." I whispered.

"I love you," He said, kissing my cheek. He bent down a little bit and poked my stomach softly. "And you too." I blushed, stroking his hair a little. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as I thought?

.:. Tweedles POV .:.

Tweedle-Dee smirked, looking at the candy in his hand. He turned to his brother, seeing if he was eating his chocolate. As soon as his brother closed his eyes, he snatched the chocolate from his hand, opening his mouth widely to eat it.

"You give that back, now!" he said, pushing him. The Tweedles tumbled on the floor, not even worrying about the chocolate anymore, but how they "deceived" one another's trust. There was a faint clearing of a young woman's throat when the boys looked up at her.

"Now why are you boys arguing over chocolate? I have plenty of that at home." She said in a slow, seductive-like voice. She came from the shadows, staring at them both. Her skin was pale-white, and she had long silky black hair that reach down her back. She looked younger than Leilani, but older than Elizabeth and had bright green eyes.

"Who are you?" Stammered Tweedle-Dum.

"Don't worry about that," She said, her eyes turning to a deep red as she lured the boys into the bushes with her. "I'll take good care of you."

From the bushes, out of the sight of anyone, even out of hearing range came the cries of horror from the Tweedles.


	16. Chapter 15

As my pregnancy progressed, so has Tarrant's thoughts and ideas on what he makes. He makes hats, but only if I, or someone else, asks him to do so. Elizabeth came up with the charming idea to have Tarrant make baby clothes, in secrecy of the castle, leaving Elizabeth home to care for me. I was actually very tired these days, more than expected from a woman in the same weeks as I was. And being that they wanted me to stay nice and healthy, they had me pay a visit to the doctor more often than not. Once every two weeks, it was. But he didn't mind because I was a friend to the White Queen. And there I realized that I was to expect twins. I hadn't told anyone yet, and as far as I'm concerned, we hadn't told anyone at the castle. Well, all except Elizabeth.

"What is it?" Pestered Elizabeth as she stared at me from my bedroom door. I was laying on the bed, reading since Tarrant wasn't here to make the house lively and crazy.

"What is what?"

"The gender is what I'm talking about. Boy and Boy? Girl and Girl? Boy and a Girl? Girl and a Boy?" She asked. She was very excited on becoming an aunt, far more excited than Tarrant and I both. Honestly, the only thing she talked about nowadays were baby names, in the privacy of me and me only.

"I don't know yet." I said to her. She walked over to me.

"But, look at it. It's just…big." She said.

"I'm only two months, and it's twins." I told her, frowning. I looked out the window in the direction of the white castle, seeing a dark shadow heading towards it.

"What?" She asked.

"We have to go, now." I said, grabbing her wrist as we raced down the stairs and to the castle. We headed to the White Queen's castle. We both went inside, seeing our friends gathering around a girl. We pushed our way to the center of the circle, standing there in shock as I saw Abigail. She had on a yellow and orange dress, smiling, batting her beautiful eyelashes at them all. She turned to me and her smile slightly faded, but she cleared her throat, making her way over to me.

"Sister!" She said, walking towards me with open arms.

When she embraced me, I just felt so sick. I sighed heavily to myself and looked at her.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered.

"I was staring out my window, well, your window, and I said: 'a darling rabbit hole' and then I peeked inside and fell in. Simple." She shrugged.

I sighed heavily and turned to Elizabeth who was now standing behind me.

"It's you." She said.

"Lizzie!" She said, going to hug her but Elizabeth nearly made me protect her.

"Don't touch her." I spoke, rubbing my stomach.

Abigail raised an eyebrow. "Well, I see I'm not welcome here." She shrugged.

"Come back," Mirana said. She looked at me with eyes full of detest as she tried bringing my half-sister back to the castle. "We want you here. You're a guest. If you're related to Leilani then you're a friend of ours as well."

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms around my chest.

"This is absurd."

"Just as absurd when you didn't tell us your secret?" Asked dormouse as she pointed to my stomach. I turned to Tarrant, looking at him.

"We were going to tell them tonight. Why did you say something?" I asked.

He began to get uncomfortable. "They walked in on me making the clothes." He said softly as he approached me. He held Elizabeth's hand.

"It's going to be okay, Liz." I whispered to her. Abigail turned around to us.

"May I have dinner with you?"

"We eat here." I said, brushing past her to sit down. Hatter made it to the table before I did and Abigail nearly shoved me out of the way to sit next to him. I was forced to sit at the end with Elizabeth.

"Now that I think about it, where are the Tweedles?" asked Mirana.

"And the March hare, Thackery." Said McTwisp.

Dormouse turned to me slowly.

"I saw Leilani walking home with them the other night. She probably knows where they are."

All eyes were on me now.

"I…I didn't do anything to them." I shook my head.

"She killed them because they're twins and she's having twins! She wanted hers to be the center of attention, isn't that right Leilani?" She asked.

Just as I was about to open my mouth to protest, Tarrant stood up for me.

"That's enough, Mally. I saw the Tweedles also. There's no way she had anything to do with it." He said. The Dormouse pouted and sighed, crossing her arms.

"Does anyone know of Thackery's whereabouts?" Asked Mirana, a little worried now.

It was quiet until Abigail perked up, talking in her annoying voice.

"I do say. Has anyone tried rabbit soup? It's pleasantly delicious and it was made in Poland. It's called Czernina. I know that Leilani was a big fan of rabbits, weren't you know? You always claimed you wanted to catch one, one of these days, right?" She asked.

I began to sweat.

"I…I didn't say that."

"So you're saying I'm lying then?" She asked.

I looked her in the eyes.

"I do not understand. Yes, I've tried it, but I wouldn't go out and get one myself."

"So you'd hire someone to do the task…I mean…get the rabbit for you?" She asked, smirking a little.

"You're putting words in my mouth. I would never hurt Thackery. He's just as mad as I am, if not then more. I don't like the fact you're accusing me."

"Why would I accuse you? You're my sister."

"You aren't my sister. You're the child of my unfaithful, no good, good for nothing father. You would have never came into the picture if your mother wasn't so eager for money. That's all she wanted from my father: money. And maybe then my father wouldn't be so quick to toss my sister and I out of the house and move you and your mother inside. People will ask questions and he'll just make excuses. They'll come to haunt him, you, and your filthy mother. I have nothing to do with my father, nor you, your mother and my so-called brother because all you people care for is money, fame and fortune. You and your perfect family are damned to the dead in my eyes." I spoke spitefully. Everyone was staring at me in shock, even Elizabeth.

Abigail moved form her seat and ran away crying. This wasn't surprising. She never did have a spine, after all. But the thing that surprised me most of all was the fact that Tarrant had dodged after her, calling her name.

"Abigail?" he called.

What on earth was going on?

I sighed heavily, taking a few dinner rolls and buttered fingers.

"Come on." I said to Elizabeth. She grabbed a roll and hurried off my by side as we walked home.

It was two hours before Tarrant came home, smiling a little. I looked him dead in the eye, even when he wasn't even giving me full eye contact.

"What?" he asked.

"How dare you stick up for Abigail?"

"She's your half sister. I think you're being unfair. Just because she's not your full-blood sister like Elizabeth doesn't mean that you have to be so rude. She's still partially your sister, either way."

"That's the thing. I don't think she's my sister. I have a feeling this is leading up to the Chaunce situation." I stated.

"Here we go again."

"I'm serious! Honestly, Tarrant, think about it. She shows up unannounced, out of the clear blue sky and puts me on the spot. Back at home she wouldn't even talk to me and would waste her time teasing and picking on Elizabeth."

"Like we all said last time, you're just worried that Chaunce will come and take you away. Well, he's not going to."

"Did you not hear Mirana those few weeks back? She said he can be in the shape of any family member. My God, Tarrant, why won't you believe me?"

"Because you've gone mad."

"You're one to talk! And I swear to you, if you put me in the hospital for dementia once more, they'll take the twins away."

He blinked at my description: "twins".

"They'll give them to me, I'm their father."

"We're not married." I said, taking the ring off and throwing it at him. He caught it in his hands.

"Do you know how much this cost me?"

"Elizabeth stole it for you." I said, snarling at him.

"So what do you want from me? To get married to you?"

"Not if this is how we're going to act." I said.

He sighed, looking at me. "I think it's me."

"What?" I asked.

"It's me. Mercury poisoning, I mean. It may be rubbing off on you and we won't even know it."

"So you're saying I'm being poisoned? You still believe I'm going mad, do you?"

"I think it's me who's causing it."

"Then what are you saying?"

"We need some time apart."

I stared at him in pure shock.

"Time apart? We need some time apart? Tarrant Hightopp, I refuse to be separated from you." I shouted.

He winced at my screaming.

"It's only fair."

"Is it because of me? I'm aging, is that it? Is it because of Abigail? She's young and pretty and seventeen. Is that what you want? A younger woman?" I yelled.

"It's not that!"

"Then what is it? You don't want the kids?" I asked.

"It's neither of those things. I just feel responsible for everything that's happening to you, especially this." He pointed to my stomach.

"You lied to me then. You said you weren't upset with this when you were!" I said, stomping my foot. A pain rushed through the bottom of it and up to my ankle but I suppressed the feeling.

"I refuse to argue with you for the sake of our children." He said. I furrowed my eyebrow, huffing as I marched up the stairs.

I was confused. Was I with him or wasn't I? Had I harmed the twins with my stress?

I sat on the bed, staring out the window at the sky. It was an ocean blue color. It was getting late.

I sighed heavily, laying on the bed, cradling my small baby bump in my arms. I closed my eyes for a few seconds, jumping when I opened them to see Tarrant standing in the doorway. I rolled over on the bed, turning away from him.

"Go away, I'm mad at you."

"You're speaking to me though."

"It's out of you being annoying."

He chuckled a little and walked towards the bed.

"Leila." He repeated over and over, poking my side. I tried forcing a smile from my face but I just couldn't. I let out a small laugh.

"Stop." I said while giggling.

"Don't stop. Okay then, as you wish." He said, tickling my sides.

I put a pillow over my face, trying to muffle laughter from keeping Elizabeth awake, though my arguing probably woke her up anyway.

"Tarrant Hightopp, stop." I said, giggling.

"I'm not stopping. This is what you asked for." He said.

After he was done making me laugh and feel better, I stared into his eyes.

"Do you still think we need time off from our relationship?" I asked softly.

"I'm not giving up."

"Yet." I teased. He looked at me, a mark of seriousness in his face.

"No, not now, not ever." He said, leaning in and kissing me. I smiled to myself, breaking the kiss to speak.

"However, lets cancel the engagement until after they're born, please? It'll make things less complicated." I asked. He thought about it.

"Fine by me," he spoke. But then he was thinking. "Why did you say yes to me in the first place?"

I looked at him, confusion running through me.

"What do you mean?"

"Before you told me you never was fond of marriage because you feared it would be ill-fated, just like your parents. Why did you say yes to me?"

"For one thing, I'm not being forced to marry you and I took my chances on my own heart. I said yes because I love you. You're the only exception, Tarry." I smiled softly. He grinned at me. I sat up against the pillows as he lay resting on my lap. I cleared my throat softly and turned, grabbing the book I was reading earlier.


	17. Chapter 16

For the whole week now, Tarrant wanted me to be inside because he was making some kind of big surprise inside of the castle. And as much as I wanted to go into the castle, I had to. I just couldn't shake the feeling that Abigail was doing something totally wrong over there. I heard Elizabeth come in the front door and I walked down the stairs to greet her. Instead, she had armor in her hands and the Vorpal sword. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What are you doing?" I asked softly. She looked at me and gulped.

"I…it's mother's armor…from when she slain the Jabberwocky." She smiled a little.

"What are you doing with it? Expecting to do some slaying?" I teased. She looked down at her shoes and back to me.

"You'll be upset if I told you." She said, turning her attention to my stomach.

"What's wrong?"

"Tarrant's stuck in time." She blurted out.

"What are you saying?"

"How else does he know our mum and not look old? He's not her age, but younger now."

I sighed heavily. "Maybe now you're the one who's mad, Lizzie." I joked, walking past her.

"I'm serious!"

"Prove it."

She took in a deep breath. "In order for Tarrant to not be kept back in time, he must break the curse that the Red Queen placed upon him. The curse can be broken if and only if the Red Queen's locket is destroyed. I must help him find the queen's locket and break the curse or else the father of your kids will look like how he does now forever on end." She spoke quickly, her mouth just rumbling away and nothing that I could catch.

"…What?" I asked.

She groaned, going off and putting her armor away.

"Follow me." She said, taking my wrist as she led me to the castle where Tarrant was working on hats and new dresses for me, seeing as my stomach was getting bigger by the weeks.

We trudged along the snow, the fluffy whiteness biting at my ankles. I shivered a bit and held on to Elizabeth closer as we walked.

We walked inside the castle, seeing the Tweedles and the March hare talking secretly among themselves.

"Ah! You've come back. Where have you three been?" I asked. They looked at us slowly, their eyes glowing green. I gulped, looking at them all.

"Abigail guided us. She's the greatest." They all spoke in unison, as though they weren't real. I sighed to myself and walked past them, knowing something was wrong.

"Did you see that?" Elizabeth whispered.

"See what?" I tried playing it off.

"They all looked dead. What's wrong with them? The March Hare isn't hyper, the Tweedles never fight. Something's wrong."

I turned to her. "Don't be ridiculous," Since I was always the one being accused of having problems, I decided that I should rub off that guilt onto my sister. Sure, it wasn't a good thing to do, but I she was one of them treating me like I was mad, in the bad way. We walked up the stairs. "I know Abigail has something to do with this."

She turned to me. "That's for sure." She nodded at my accusation. We moved up the stairs to the room Tarrant was in.

"You know, Tarrant, you're really good at what you do." I heard Abigail whisper to him.

Tarrant let out a slight chuckle. "I am rather good at it, aren't I?"

"You're very good. Has Leilani ever told you that before?"

He was silent for a few moments. "No, but I know she knows I'm good."

"You can't be so sure with Leilani, now. Tarrant, if I weren't mistaken, I'd think she's not interested in you anymore."

"Why would you say that?"

"She hates her body now. I heard her in the toilet room one day just crying about how she wasn't thin anymore."

"She's not even that big, yet. Besides, we both agreed that the twins will be a blessing and not a burden."

"Apparently she thinks otherwise. You need a woman who understands you, who knows you better than you know yourself. I could be that woman."

"You don't know me at all, and you're seventeen!"

Abigail let out a soft laugh. "Age is just a number, you silly fool," she said. "And let me get to know you."

"Thank you for your offer but I'm very much happy with my fiancée."

Abigail let out a soft hmmph. "Maybe this will change your mind." After that, it was just quiet. I stared at Elizabeth, shock on my face. What if what I walked into could destroy my world completely? I had to take a chance…Chance…Chaunce! This could be the moment to prove that Abigail really was Chaunce after all!

"You go in." I whispered to Elizabeth.

"No, I'm not going in there. You go in."

"He's like your brother!"

"He's your fiancé."

I stared at the girl dully before opening the door to see the most shocking sight.

"What is this?" I asked. Abigail looked up at me, her eyes beaming red but soon turning bright green and then brown. She broke the kiss that she had planted on Tarrant's lips and his hand fell from its position on the back of her head. It was as if he was enjoying it.

"Leilani, we didn't expect to see you here." Said Abigail as she wiped the corners of her mouth slightly. I turned to Tarrant who was still facing her. He turned around slowly, looking at me, a single tears flowing down his cheek. I had never seen him cry before. I held my stomach as I tried walking away but my aching back and heavy stomach pretty much prevented me from doing that task.

"Leila, come back." Tarrant said as he tried following me. I walked out the castle doors and tried hurrying along the path to our house.

"You disgust me." I said bitterly to him.

"It was a mistake. I was trapped."

"Trapped by what? He lips? Her gorgeous figure? Or was it her young age, as you stated?" I asked, entering the house. He grabbed my wrist but I snatched it away.

"It was something…it made me feel like it was right when it was wrong. Please believe me."

I turned to him.

"I believe you."

"You do?"

"I believe that you were planning this all along. Was this the first time? Was this the fourth? Is this why you've kept me secluded in our house? If I hadn't gone to the castle today, who knows what might have happened?"

"I would have stopped myself." He was now crying. I huffed, my chest rising and falling.

"I want you out of the house."

He looked shocked. "What," he walked towards me, grasping my hand. "I built this house."

"Then I'll leave. That's best. I'm going back home."

"Where are you going?"

"Home!"

"Where is "home". I thought this was your home."

"I'm moving back in with my aunt Imogene." I told him, going to my room and gathering my things in my bag.

"No, please don't go, for the sake of our twins." He touched my stomach as I sat on the bed. I smacked his hand away.

"I'm leaving. Tell Elizabeth to pack her things when you see her."

His eyes turned red. "You can't just tell her what to do, you know. God, let her make a decision for herself once in her life." His thick Scottish accent just intimidated me slightly. I knew how he got when he got mad.

"Fine, then I'll be on my way. If I see her in my world then I'd happy. If I don't, I'll still be happy, knowing she's where she wants to be," I said, grabbing my clothes. "As for you, I don't care where you go."

He stared at me in shock. "You don't mean that," He tried making himself smile a little but I turned my head away from him, looking out the window. "Very well, then."

.:. Elizabeth's POV .:.

I stared at my sister as she laid on the bed in Tarrant's sewing room.

"I love this place." She giggled. I saw her eyes turn green and I charged inside, jumping on her.

"Who are you? You're not Abigail so just get out of her body!" I yelled in her face.

Her lips curled into a tight, crooked smile as I roughed her up. "Your sister knows damn well who I am, and I'm not talking about Abigail, I'm talking about Leilani." She spoke.

"You're not Chaunce. You can't be! Chaunce is dead!" I screamed, grabbing my hair.

"Don't worry about that, love." She said, pushing me onto the floor and walking off. I frowned and sighed heavily, going to the desk where Tarrant was working. He was making miniature hats, small enough to fit a toddler's head.

I heard footsteps and leaned against the wall, seeing Tarrant walk inside and past me. I jumped on his back.

"You're horrible! I hate you!" I screamed, pounding on his back and tugging at his orange hair.

"Liz, let go!" he yelled.

"You hurt my sister!"

He threw me off of his back and picked me up by the shoulders.

"Listen to me, it was a mistake. She kissed me. In no way, shape or form did I want to kiss her. I love your sister."

"Then you must believe her when she says that Abigail is Chaunce." I said, still not believing him. He sighed and placed me on the floor.

"Fine, I believe."

"I can't help you." I said, turning away.

"Wait, what?"

"You're doubting me and my sister. You didn't see her eyes! They were red, then green, then brown! That's not normal!"

"My eye change colors like that." He protested.

"Then again, you're not normal!" I explained.

"Oh, right," he thought about it. "The Tweedles and the March Hare have been acting strangely, though."

"Exactly. The Tweedles went missing and ironically Abigail shows up. Then the March Hare disappears. If this was her first time in Underland, don't you think she wouldn't have a clue that he was a rabbit? Think back to last week." I told him softly.

He stared at the floor, trying to remember:

"_Does anyone know of Thackery's whereabouts?" Asked Mirana, a little worried now._

_It was quiet until Abigail perked up. _

"_I do say. Has anyone tried rabbit soup? It's pleasantly delicious and it was made in Poland. It's called Czernina. I know that Leilani was a big fan of rabbits, weren't you know? You always claimed you wanted to catch one, one of these days, right?" She asked. _

Tarrant looked me in the eyes once he remembered what she said.

"That's odd."

"Exactly, but we'll deal with that later. Where is the Red Queen?"

"In the dungeons. Take the sword just in case." He said, handing me his instead of returning home to retrieve the vorpal sword. He gave me a slight push for "encouragement". Instead, it made me not want to go and get it.

"You're coming with me." I told him.

He smirked a little and nodded.

"Let's go." He said as he took my hair, walking down to the dungeons with me. We looked from cell to cell, until we heard footsteps.

"What are you doing down here?" Asked Abigail when she saw us both.

"We're getting something." I told her, rushing to the cell.

"You're not getting the Red Queen's locket." She said, walking towards us.

"Why do you want it?" I handed Tarrant the sword to protect me and block her from getting the locket.

I turned to Abigail, seeing a transparent green arm rise from his chest. She stopped walking gasping for air. Tarrant was about to lunge towards her to help her, but I grabbed his arm, making him stop. She closed her eyes and looked at us both, grinning.

"It goes with my décor." She said.

"You're sick." I said, grabbing the keys from the counter and opening the gate, seeing a woman with an overly large head sitting in a corner with a dirty dress on. She moved towards Tarrant, fighting him. Surprisingly she was stronger than him, which I thought was impossible. I tried searching for the locket but I couldn't find it.

"Oh Lizzie," Said Abigail as she lay her small foot on Tarrant's chest, his sword puncturing his shoulder as he lay on the floor. "Let's make a deal."

"Hatter!" I cried, rushing to him but she grabbed me tightly.

"I said, let's make a deal."

"I don't want to have anything to do with you." I snarled. She laughed and took the sword from his shoulder tightly, making him yell out in pain. I grabbed a board of wood. Something's always better than nothing. I raised the board to hit her but she chopped it in half. Using all my strength in my right arm, I tossed the board at her head and the other at her hand, which hit it roughly. The sword fell from her grip and I slid, grabbing it. She ran inside the cage and shook the queen.

"Queenie, tell me, where is your locket?" She asked.

"Locket?" the queen asked.

"Your locket, you big-headed brat." She yelled.

"There." She whispered, pointing to a red heart laced on a gold chain, glowing on the floor. Abigail and I dodged for it. I grasped it quickly, but Abigail wrestled me, biting at my wrists to make me let go. I let go of the locket, and she grabbed it, trying to run off. I grabbed her foot making her fall on her face. She turned around, growling, punching me in the face. I grabbed my face, screaming at the pain. I held my face, banging on the floor at the throbbing pain of my cheekbone.

She chuckled to herself and stood up, running off with the locket, until she fell a second time. The locket slid from her hand. I turned, seeing Tarrant grabbing her ankle with both of his hands.

"Let go!" She bellowed.

"Liz! Get it, hurry up!" he ordered. I dashed for the locket, grabbing it in my hand. I felt a shadow cast over me and I turned around, seeing Abigail standing over me. She didn't look like herself at all. She looked like Chaunce, just a bit. One of her arms was shorter than the other and was pale green. Her face looked twisted and her eyes were turning from red to green, back and forth, in a matter of seconds.

"Give it here, my darling sister." She demanded, in a manlike voice. I recognized it as Chaunce's.

"You're not her sister." I heard Tarrant say as he stood up weakly, wrestling her to the floor and trying to hold her still. I watched as the same transparent green arm shot from her chest, extending to grab hold of my ankle. As he slowly began dragging me towards the two, I held on to the locket tightly, grabbing the sword.

"What do I do?" I yelled.

"Smash it!" Tarrant told me.

"You smash that locket and it's over for you." Abigail said, out of breath weakly.

I raised an eyebrow and grabbed the sword, stabbing at the locket, but it wouldn't break. I stabbed harder, seeing as that only made a crack in the piece of jewelry.

Chaunce let out a sickening, deafening laugh.

"Just give up, already!" he called from inside of Abigail. His words escaped through her mouth as she was his portal into humanity.

"I will not!" I screamed, grasping the locket, banging it on the ground, breaking it as different colors traveled from the broken jewelry. Orange for Tarrant, gray for possibly the March Hare and two white specks for the Tweedles, I guessed. The rest were of different colors, possibly her other victims.

Abigail grabbed my other leg as Chaunce continued pulling me along.

"If he's inside of me, then you're going to be as well." She threatened, out of breath as she began sweating.

I slid the sword over to Tarrant, wondering if he knew how to release Chaunce from her body. He got from on top of her and held the sword, jabbing her right in the chest. She let out a deafening scream. It was a scream so loud that I'm sure could shake the glass of the windows and make an opera singer quite jealous. I turned around, watching as Abigail stood up, changing from short to her normal height and then from Chaunce to herself. She levitated in the air for a quick moment before dropping to the ground with a thud. I watched as a pale green ball shook, escaping her chest as it evaporated into thin air.

"Is it gone?" I asked Tarrant. I turned to him, seeing the man laying face down on the floor, a small pool of blood surrounding his wound.

"Hm?" He asked.

I rushed to his side, not caring if my trousers were getting soaked in his blood.

"Tarrant, please tell me you're okay. Please." I said, stroking his cheek.

He looked up at me and smiled weakly, closing his fascinating eyes slowly. I believed I heard him exhale as he looked paler than normal. This wasn't good, this wasn't good at all. I felt my bottom lip tremble. I had just lost my evil half-sister, I couldn't lose my potential brother-in-law, too.

I began sobbing as I tried putting pressure on his wound. I tried dragging him to the open where someone would see us.

"Help!" I cried loudly, as one of the white queen's maids came to my aid.

Was this the end of my time in Underland? Had I tried saving the man I called my brother too late? I banged on the floor as her and a man dragged him away.

My world was spinning. I was too late. I was responsible for everything and I knew it. I raced to a bathroom, staring at myself in the reflection. Looking in the mirror, I saw a girl with frizzy blonde hair and a bruised cheek bone under her left eye. I saw a coward, who had to bring along Tarrant Hightopp as her protector when it was her idea all along. Yet, if it weren't for Tarrant, I'd be dead, more than likely.

If this counts, nobody won this fight. Chaunce was gone, Abigail was wounded, I got the locket, broke the curse for Tarrant, but he'd never get a chance to live his life in the proper body of his age.

I bit my lower lip, feeling sick to my stomach when something devastating crossed my mind…

I know she was mad at him and all that but…who's going to be brave, strong, and emotionally stable enough to tell Leilani about all of this…especially when she's pregnant?


	18. Chapter 17

The doctor exited the room, looking at me, Mirana and all the others as we stared at the hospital wing's doors. I wanted so desperately to enter inside and just wake Tarrant up from his little "nap", if you'd call it that.

He sighed and looked at us all.

"The Tweedles are slowly recovering. The March Hare is doing fine. Just a slight bump on his head. It'd probably make him madder than he already was." He chuckled.

"What about Tarrant? Is he going to be okay?" I spoke up.

He looked at me and turned towards the doors and pulled me aside.

"You broke the curse. Strangely enough, he's not his proper age."

"What do you mean?"

"He's not forty-four like he's supposed to be. He's around thirty, I'd say."

"May I see him?" I perked up.

"Tomorrow you can take him home. He's healing." He assured me. I nodded, sitting down and applying the ice to my ice. Mirana came to me and hugged me softly.

"You're brave, just like your sister and your mother. It's outstanding." She said softly.

I smirked, blushing a little. "I…well, I try not to be afraid. I couldn't have saved the Tweedles and the March Hare if it weren't for Tarrant."

"Ah, Miss Ascot?" Asked the doctor as he walked back towards me.

"Yes, sir?"

"Your sister requests your presence." He spoke. I frowned and rolled my eyes.

"I do not want to see her."

"Are you sure? She's so pitiful. She believes this is a dream."

"They all do." I spoke, shrugging a shoulder as I walked into the room she was in.

"I don't want any water! I do not wish to take these pills! I am fine!" She screamed, slapping the glass of water from the nurse's hand. She bent down, wiping it all up.

"Elizabeth, darling, tell me I'm dreaming."

"In dreams, you don't get hurt." I said, pinching her arm. She jumped a little and smacked my hand.

"Of course I'm dreaming. This place is impossible. I mean, come on, talking rabbits, talking flowers, a clown whose head can turn all the way around? I just had too much caviar last night." She shrugged.

"Then why are you asking me if it's a dream?"

"Because I'm tired and I won't wake up and it feels so real."

I smirked a little and shook my head. "You're dreaming, now wake up." I said to her, walking off. It was quiet for a moment.

"Wait, I'm awake! I'm not dreaming!" She bellowed as she began screaming in terror. I turned to Mirana.

"I suggest you hurry up before she gets suspicious."

She smiled and took out the vile of liquid used to bring people back to where they came from.

"I'm right on it." She nodded. I sighed, going outside the castle and walking home. I hadn't come home last night and I feared Leilani has done the worst to herself while I wasn't there. What kind of sister was I to leave her alone and helpless?

I walked inside. It was dark, dusty and desolate.

"Leilani?" I called throughout the house.

The dishes were piled up in the sink and the house looked disheveled. I know she couldn't do much because of her horrendous backaches but honestly, this was ridiculous. I walked slowly up the stairs and entered Leilani's room, seeing her weep as she stared out the window.

"I'm alone." She spoke softly. I looked at her in confusion.

"What do you mean? I'm here."

"You came back, just now. What were you doing?"

"I was…at the castle, working things out between you and Tarrant."

She sobbed and wiped her eyes. "I've been considering things that begin with the letter T. Tired, Thankful, Trouble, Terrible, Tarrant the Tyrant!" She said harshly.

"Calm down, please." I said, sitting on the bed as I rubbed her shoulder.

"You can't honestly tell me that you're all for what he did with Abigail, do you?"

I sighed as the memories poured into my head. "I don't support it, at all, because Abigail is on her way back to father's house."

She looked at me, a small smile on her lips. "Really?"

I nodded slowly. "Yes, and she's not going to ever come back again because Chaunce is gone. I broke the curse that was laid upon Tarrant."

"So he's the proper age and looks like it also?"

"He's not the proper age. He's supposed to be in his forties. Instead he's just thirty. I don't know about his looks, though. The doctor wouldn't let me see him. He's coming home tomorrow."

"No, I kicked him out." She shook her head. My jaw dropped at what she just said.

"You did what now?"

"We argued. He said the kiss felt so right though he knew it was wrong. What a load of bullocks right?" She asked.

"He's a confusing guy. You can't blame the poor bloke. Chaunce tried luring him away from you so that you wouldn't have any protectors. That way, disguised as Abigail, he wouldn't be questioned and you would probably be dead." I explained. She looked me over and turned back to the window.

"Oh." Was that all she was going to say to me?

"Did you hear me? I said if it weren't for Tarrant and I, you would be dead." I repeated.

"I heard you the first time, Liz."

I clenched my fists. I wouldn't hit a pregnant woman. That'd be bad on my reputation here. But if she weren't, I wouldn't be scared to get into a little roughhousing with dear sister, Leilani, who was being as stubborn as a mule.

"You're awful." I spat.

She turned around to me. "What did you just say?"

"Yeah, I said it. A-W-F-U-L! I can see why Tarrant's so frustrated with you sometimes, Leilani. You're stubborn and selfish. You could care less about what me and Tarrant do for your safety but more about the fact that our half-sister planted a kiss on him. It's not like he was fully cheating on you. And you know what I mean by that."

"I have my every God given right to be upset with him."

"Well I don't think so. You're blaming him for what another person did. You're so scared of being betrayed that you let any little thing he does go straight to that thing you call a brain."

"How dare you?"

"Yes, how dare I say such a nasty thing to a pregnant woman? You didn't even ask if I was alright! You just shunned me away for talking to the poor bloke. Just because you stay mad at him doesn't mean that I have to be that way as well. He's my friend too and I'm tired of you always telling me what to do. It's been that way since I could remember. 'Don't play with this toy'; 'Don't play with her'; 'Get in the car, Elizabeth'. I said nothing when you left me alone with that woman, Aunt Imogene. But when I step in the door after being away for a day, you have a fit. It's unfair to know that you can speak up and have a voice, call Abigail worthless and whatnot whereas I'm the bystander. Yet, when it comes my time, you act shocked."

Leilani stared at me and looked down at her feet and back up to me.

"Is that how you feel?"

"That's not half of what I feel." I banged on her bed.

"Then say it now while you're giving me the lecture before you wait five years later to nag about it in front of the kids."

I scoffed and shook my head. "Tarrant, he loves you with 75% of his heart. I'm the other 25%. Honestly, you can't tell me you don't feel the same way for him."

"What do you want out of me? An apology? I'm sorry for Tarrant being such an idiot."

I bit my lower lip. "There's no way to get through that stubborn pretty little head of yours, is there?" I asked.

She looked at me. "You called me what?"

"Stubborn…just like our father, Hamish."

I knew that would boil her blood. She looked at me.

"Take it back."

"Not until you take every awful thing you said about Tarrant back. He doesn't deserve to be called names behind your back. He believed in you when you didn't believe in yourself. He was your light, your guide, and you turn around and talk about him like a dog. Yeah, what a way to show love." I said, getting up and walking away, walking down the stairs where I laid on the couch crying.

This wasn't Wonderland. This just turned out to be Awful-land. It was just like living with mother and father again. They always argued and talked about each other behind their backs. When I asked father if he loved mother, he looked down at me, placed me on his lap and told me flatly that he didn't. When I asked mother, she thought about it and admitted that she didn't. I was scared that if Tarrant were to come home, this is how it would be.

I heard the footsteps of Leilani as she came downstairs, sitting on the couch next to me. She rubbed my shoulder and I sat up, positioning myself to rest on her lap.

"I take it back, I take everything mean I said about him back." She said softly. I looked up at her and kissed her cheek softly, hugging her tightly.

"I take everything I said about you back. I took it back the minute I said it." I explained. She smiled and stroked my hair gently.

"I love you." She spoke to me. I grinned at her statement, but I was dying to know something else.

"Do you love Tarrant?" It was silent for a few seconds before she answered me back.

"Strangely, amusingly, and happily, I love him back just as much as he loves me." She answered.

I smiled a little, closing my eyes as I rested on her lap.


	19. Chapter 18

.:. Leilani's POV .:.

I stared at myself in the mirror. Elizabeth had dressed me for the occasion of Tarrant coming home from "the war" as we teased. I just hoped everything would be okay with us then. She told me he had a peace offering for me and my heart broke. I didn't have a peace offering for him. Elizabeth jogged up the stairs and hopped impatiently.

"You look fine, now lets set the table!" She said. I walked downstairs.

"But we must clean the house first." I said. As I looked around, I noticed how everything was neat, clean, and spotless. I raised an eyebrow at Elizabeth.

"Taken care of. Now hurry, we must dress the turkey." she said, taking everything out of the brick oven. I sighed, too anxious to see Tarrant.

"I don't think this is such a good idea. What if we don't get along?" I asked nervously as I twiddled my thumbs. She looked at me tiredly and sighed.

"He's coming home, whether you like it or not." She spoke. I nodded a little.

"Okay then." I said. I had gone over to the kitchen table, dressing the turkey with Elizabeth until my ear began ringing. I winced a little, since I was getting a bit dizzy. And then it came…the knock…

I stood up as straight as arrow, almost like a solider who was standing before his higher rank.

I looked at Elizabeth who gave me a little push on the back, urging me to go ahead and open the door. I took baby steps as I walked towards the door, opening it slowly to reveal a man, standing there. He was as tall as Tarrant, and wore the same kind of clothes as he did. But no, it couldn't be this man. I studied his appearance, his physique. This man had wild orange hair stretching out , stopping a bit past his shoulders and had a small goatee right in the dip under his bottom lip. I blushed a little at seeing him, and he did the same.

"Hi." He said breathlessly. His arm was in a beige caste and his shoulder was bandaged.

"Hi," I said softly to him. "Are you okay?"

What an idiotic kind of question was that? Of course he wasn't okay! The man was injured for heavens sake and all I could possibly ask him was if he was okay.

He nodded a little and cleared his throat. "Just a slight bump up with your sister but I'll be okay."

"How is my sister?" I asked, not believing I called Abigail that.

"She's probably home by now," He spoke. I stared into his eyes, wanting to throw my arms around him and tell him how much I missed him, but that would be uncanny and a little immature. But he was my beau, what couldn't I do? "May I come in?" His voice was soft, like he was talking in a whisper.

"Sure, sure." I said, welcoming him inside.

"Tarry!" Elizabeth yelled as she ran towards him hugging around his torso. He wrapped his uninjured arm around her and smiled, kissing the top of her head.

"Lizzie, been holding down the fort while I've been gone?" he asked, walking towards the door to grab a bag he had set outside. It was full of stuff inside. I rushed to the door and tried reaching for the bag.

"Let me." I said, holding the bag. Instead, somehow, I managed holding his hand. He looked into my eyes as I did to him. I felt my stomach overflow with butterflies. Why couldn't I distinguish these feelings I had for him? One minute he's my beau, the next he was my worst enemy. Our relationship was destroyed and it was all my fault. I grabbed the bag from his hand and set it on the couch.

"Yes, I cleaned the house and washed the dishes. I've even helped Leilani exercise." She bragged.

He looked at me with a slight grin on his face. "Is this true?"

I looked up at him and nodded quickly. "She even took it upon herself to sleep in my bed at night with me when I got lonely." I threw in. He turned to Elizabeth.

"Well I'll be. Don't tell me you've already begun replacing me."

Elizabeth giggled, ready to answer but I did.

"No, she hasn't. No one can ever replace you." I assured him. He looked at me, as though wanting to remind me of all the cruel and nasty things I said about him.

"It was a joke, Leilani." It felt awkward hearing him say my full name. I had grown used to him saying "Leila" all the time.

Elizabeth looked at us and smirked to herself.

"I'll leave you two to catch up over dinner."

"You don't want dinner? You talked all day about how hungry you were." I reminded.

She raced up the stairs and called out: "I'm not hungry!"

I heard the slam of her bedroom door as I started walking towards the table. Usually Tarrant would pull my chair out for me before I sat. This night I had to do it myself.

We both sat across from each other, staring into each other's eyes, not touching any dish on the table. It was just awkward silence. I was hesitating on whether or not to speak for the fear that when he had to say something important, I would unintentionally interrupt him. I wondered if he felt the same way.

"You haven't touched any dinner." He said.

"I can say the same for you."

He sighed and looked away.

"Why are you so quiet, Leilani? You were never quiet. I enjoyed listening to the sound of your voice." He spoke. I cocked my head to the side and looked at the bag on the couch.

"What's in the bag?"

"Some stuff that I finished making at the castle. Baby clothes…some other stuff I'd like for you to see. It was getting too crowded in my room at the castle."

"Are you moving back?"

"I barely possessed anything to consider myself moving out in the first place."

"You could always come back, you know."

"Where would I stay? And don't say the bedroom, please don't. We both know what happened two days ago and the relationship has ended. You declared so yourself."

"You could sleep on the couch."

He stared at me and began laughing until he stopped himself.

"Is there a reason why you want me back in the house, Leilani?"

"Elizabeth misses you."

"Just Elizabeth?"

"Not only Elizabeth." I said quietly. He looked at me and excused himself from the table, digging in the bag. I stood up to help him locate what he was looking for.

"I don't need your help," he spoke bitterly. He took out two baby blankets. They were both identical though: Two orange-haired babies sleeping and holding each other. He held up another blanket as well. It was my face and underneath it said:

Tarrant & Leilani

Tatyanna and Nicolas

I smiled a little and looked up at him questioningly. "I made an error, so I figured I'd just bunch everyone in it as well."

I walked towards him and planted a small kiss on his cheek.

"It's beautiful. I deeply appreciate it but I must ask. Where did you come up with those names?"

"I was at first sewing my name. After the argument I couldn't start over. Not enough material so I just thought of the first girl name that I could think of that began with "Ta-"

"It's brilliant," I smiled, running my fingers across his name. I looked at him once more, seeing a serious look on his face. "Why are you beset with gloom?"

"I'm surprised that even after I attempt to have dinner with you, you still have yet to say those two words to me with such meaning."

I placed the blanket on the couch, grabbing his face softly as he placed his uninjured hand on my stomach, rubbing it softly as he looked down at it.

"Tarrant, I love you with all my heart and I could never lose you. I was mad. And as young as Elizabeth is, she gives the best advice that anyone could have ever asked for. I loved you so much that I was afraid of anyone coming between that." I explained.

"You loved?"

I shook my head. "I still love you with all of my heart and that can never change. I detested the word marriage because of my parents. And yet when I fell in love with you and want nothing more for those words to come out of your mouth, that whole thing went out the window. Tarrant, I have and always will love you unconditionally."

He slowly removed his hand from my stomach as he looked at me. His facial expression looked normal again. I closed my eyes a little, moving in to kiss his lips but he didn't allow it. He kept moving from me. Embarrassed, I patted his chest one time.

"I'll just go and put this in my room." I said. He nodded, taking a seat on the couch. As I took the walk of shame up the stairs, I placed everything in the small box titled: "Baby Box". I turned around, ready to let Tarrant out of the house so he could choose whether or not he wanted to stay or go back to the castle. Instead, he was standing in my doorway, looking at me as though I were his prey.

"You really are something, Leilani."

I raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I can look at you and see the most strange, confusing, stubborn woman alive. But with one single touch and with the right words that pour from your heart, you have me back in your grip."

"I never knew I was." I teased.

"Now you do." He said, walking towards me. I backed up into the wall, looking at him.

"Tarrant, what are-"

He put a finger to my lips. "Hush." He spoke softly. He began closing his eyes slowly as that hand traveled from my lips to the back of my neck. He leaned in slowly, making me anticipate the moment as he began kissing me. The second his lips became one with mine, a tear rolled down my cheek. I never though that Tarrant would come home after the way I had treated him.

"Does this mean you're staying?" I asked.

"Depends on what you mean by staying."

"Staying here?"

"Well, I can tell you right now, love, that there's no place like home." He smirked a little. I grinned, burying my face in his chest as I hugged him tightly.

"I love you." I said. Though it was muffled, he knew what I meant.

"I love you too." He said.

6 months later

I stared from the doorway at Elizabeth as she slept in her bed. Today was her fourteenth birthday. I couldn't believe it. She was growing up so fast. She would almost past me and Tarrant. As I walked inside, I sat on the bed, stroking her hair. Every single time I'd have a pain in my stomach, she'd be the first to say something, insisting we go to the doctor.

"Leila." I heard a voice call. I turned, seeing no one there. I looked along the halls, hoping to find Tarrant grinning at me but I couldn't. I felt a kick and held my stomach, quickly feeling uncomfortable. I turned to Elizabeth who was sitting up in her bed now.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"I thought I heard someone calling me." I explained. She smirked and shook her head.

"You're going mad, Leila. Just accept it." She spoke.

I raised an eyebrow, but quickly lowering it as a headache drew across my forehead. I dropped to my knees, holding my head.

"Liz." I said as I held my head. My vision was blurring. What was happening to me?

"Leilani, we have to take you to the hospital…NOW. This isn't good. I'm getting a bad feeling from this."

"From what?" 

"You, of course. You're always in pain."

"Don't be silly." I said as I stood up, leaning against her wall.

"Where's Tarrant?"

"He's outside."

She helped me up and took me outside, seeing Tarrant sitting down with a pair of scissors in his hand. He had cut his long hair to make it back to the length it was when I had first seen him.

"Tarrant, come here! We must take Leilani to the hospital."

"Is it time, yet?" he asked, jumping from his seat against the tree, hurrying over.

"No, she's not well." She spoke.

"We can only take her back if it's something serious."

"This is serious! She has a bad headache." 

"That's not serious." He tried assuring her.

The two argued back and forth, making my headache worst. And yet, as soon as I was inside, leaving them to argue, it stopped. I walked upstairs to our bedroom, wondering if I just needed some rest. As I laid on my bed, I felt ill. Maybe Elizabeth was right. Maybe I do need to see the doctor? I feared that the twins weren't well, or sick. I felt a kick against my stomach and I let out a loud groan. I stood up, pacing the room back and forth, taking in deep breaths. Maybe they were hungry? What was wrong? I closed my eyes tightly, feeling a sharp pain move from my back all the way to the front of my stomach. I felt nauseated, yet nothing came up.

However, my eyes widened once the weirdest thing happened. At this sudden action, I hurried down the stairs, covering my ears as they began arguing again.

"Guys?" I asked softly to them as I leaned against the doorway for support.

"It's not that serious. He's going to turn us away like last time. Until the babies are about to be born that's when we go." Tarrant said.

"You're all wrong, you foolish man."

"Guys," They wouldn't listen to me at all. I was the center of this conversation…so why couldn't they pay me some mind? "Tarrant!"

The Hatter looked at me, his eyes widened.

"Yes?"

I looked at them both, nervous now.

"We need to go to the hospital, now."

I saw Tarrant poke his head in the door as he looked around.

"Is it safe?" He asked quietly. I looked down at the twins as they slept in my arms.

"I just put them to sleep, you can come in, though."

He came inside and stood a great distance away from the bed.

"Come on, don't be shy." I said, wanting him to come over.

He sat on the stool next to my bed, staring at them.

"Peculiar creatures." He said.

I laughed a little and stared at him. "Would you like to hold one?"

He looked at me and back to the twins. He took one from my hands and smiled.

"Uhm…who is it?" He asked.

"That's Damien."

He grinned and looked at his son. "Damien Hightopp, I like that."

"I knew you would."

"And who's that?"

"This is Julian."

He looked puzzled. "Where's our daughter?"

"There's only two babies, Tarrant. Both are boys."

"But, I made both boy and girl stuff."

"They'll simply have to share the boy stuff." I explained.

"That works perfectly with me." He said, as he walked around the room with Damien in his arms. The little baby woke up with a cute yawn, looking at his father with big green eyes. He started to cry a little but Tarrant shushed him quietly as he began rocking him gently in his arms. I smiled as a tear fell from my eye, traveling down my face as I watched them both.


	20. Chapter: END

6 years later

A single day hasn't gone by since the twins were born that I hadn't thought of mother and all she has done for us. These past few days as the twins reached their sixth birthday, I was eager…sad…and disappointed that their grandmother, Alice, couldn't see what handsome little boys they were. I stared out the window, unable to know how to cope with this. I saw the twins playing outside with the Tweedles, March Hare and Elizabeth. My boys and sister were born on the same day, so this birthday would be one that's unforgettable. I couldn't believe how everything has changed. Elizabeth, who was now twenty, took place as a regent for the White Queen as she became ill with Typhoid. So, Elizabeth was ruling Marmoreal, temporarily. The twins were very much like their father, minus the madness. Damien was stubborn, just like me, but tended to go more towards his father. Julian was just as silly as Tarrant and loved hanging around me so that he could fill me up with countless made-up stories and his attempt to Futterwacken.

I heard slow footsteps coming from the hall, trying to enter the doorway. I quickly wiped my tears from my eyes on the sleeve of my dress that Tarrant made for me. It reminded me of back home and how they had Elizabeth, Abigail and I wear the dresses with the bustle and petticoats. Somehow, some way, he found a bustle and used it for my dresses.

"Why do you cry?" Tarrant asked as he came in the room with me, sitting on the bed. My husband rubbed my shoulder comforting me.

"I'm just deeply lost in my thoughts."

"How so?"

"I miss my mother, terribly. She's just laying in the asylum, rotting, not doing anything. I wonder if she can even remember my name, Tarrant. I had a dream last night of when she left. It was the exact same event that occurred that day that I had woken up to see mother having a fit. It was awful." I frowned. He hugged me and sighed.

"She'll come home, one of these days."

"How will I know unless I leave Underland?"

"Well, have you considered?"

"And risk being caught and have everyone wanting to get away from their horrid lives to live one filled with endless creativity here? I may miss my mother to the fullest, Tarrant, but I wouldn't want this getting out to where I'd come from." I said. He stood up, taking my hand in his.

"You're missing the birthday party."

I took my hand away and stared out the window.

"I will not go."

"You must. If you don't come downstairs with me, I will be forced to send everyone on their way and cancel it. Would you want Damien and Julian to be unhappy on their day?"

I gulped and looked at him, taking his hand as he led me down the stairs and out the doors to the party. Damien and Julian turned to me.

"Mother!" They both called in their raspy, yet cute, voices. I knelt down and hugged them both, kissing their foreheads.

"Having a good birthday?" I smiled.

"Can we open presents now?" they asked. I turned to Tarrant who was eager to give them their gifts. I bit my bottom lip.

"I suppose so." I said as I stood back up. They dashed inside, bringing present after present.

Their first gift was from Tarrant, who made them small versions of top hats. Damien received a brown one whereas Julian received a black one. The twins looked at each other and grinned, trading hats as they placed them on their heads with a nod.

As they opened their presents, I saw Elizabeth who kept looking at her pocket watch.

"Have we wasted your time?" Asked Tarrant.

I shook my head.

"No, not at all. As long as they're having a good time, so am I. I couldn't wait to leave the castle. Sitting on a throne all day and all night is tiring for me. I'm happy to get some fresh air." Elizabeth explained as she placed her hand on Damien's mess of orange hair. Julian's hair was a bit darker than his brother's, whereas his was neater, less messy and slicked back.

"I can walk you to your castle, Elizabeth." I offered.

"I'm fine." She said sternly. I sighed and looked at the boys as they opened gift after gift, excited with each one they received.

"Thank you, all of you." Said Damian as he looked all around at his guests. Julian, on the other hand, was clinging to my side.

"Mother, I'm tired." He said.

"The party's almost over." I tried reassuring him. He nodded and let go to go off and sit in a chair. I turned to see a blue glowing beam of light at the start of the pathway near our house.

"What do you see?" Tarrant asked as he held my hand. I blushed, feeling warm inside from his action. I blinked, looking closer to see a woman in all white walking towards the castle. I gulped and shook my head, believing it was my own imagination. I turned to Tarrant and smiled.

"What do I see?" I asked. He nodded, holding me close. "I see the man of my dreams, my best friend who is my sister, my friends, and my darling sons."

He laughed a little and kissed my forehead. "Gross!" The twins exclaimed. My cheeks grew red instantly and I felt embarrassed.

It wasn't until two hours later that the twins became uninterested in the event. "It's getting late." Tarrant whispered to me once he saw the boys sleeping on the tables. The guests were having their own good time just socializing among themselves.

"Everyone, thank you for coming to the twins' birthday party. I'm sure they loved your company."

The guests groaned as they walked home. Once everyone had cleared out, the boys perked up.

"Can we get ice cream?" Damien asked excitedly.

"Or some buttered fingers? Those hit the spot!" Julian exclaimed.

I turned to Tarrant in disbelief.

"You made your guests leave your party by pretending to sleep?" Tarrant asked.

"It was pure genius but wrong." I said.

They sucked their teeth.

"No ice cream, then?"

"And buttered fingers?"

"Not today. In you go, come on." I said, ushering them inside. They raced up the stairs and to their rooms. I had every intention of collapsing on the bed, not getting up until noon because of my bad dream which kept me awake.

I groaned once I went in the bedroom. I held my forehead, wincing as a pain came. Tarrant rushed over to me and at his touch, it went away.

"I'm fine."

He looked at me in suspicion.

"Don't tell me you're following in the steps of your sons."

"I'm not, honest. Once you came over it stopped hurting."

He leaned in closed and climbed on top of me. I laughed a little, turning red.

"Then I suppose you can call me your good luck charm then?" he asked.

"Possibly." I shrugged. He leaned forward, kissing me softly as he began to unbutton on my dress.

I heard the sound of someone downstairs turning on the doorknob and knocking loudly.

"Anyone home?" Asked a manly voice.

My eyes opened quickly as I stared into complete darkness.

"Tarrant." I whispered.

"Hm?"

"Someone's at the door!"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that someone's at the door!" I said, trying to get his arms from around me. I stood in the middle of the bedroom, bare, as I tried searching for a robe to quickly put on. He followed suit and left the room before I did, heading down the stairs. I poked my head into the twins' room, seeing them sleeping soundly.

"Is anyone home?" The man asked once more.

"I'm coming." Tarrant said as he walked towards the door. A part of me wanted to follow behind him, but the other half of me wanted to stay with my sons, so I did so.

The door creaked open slowly. I could hear the muffled voices of Tarrant and a man, following by a woman who seemed older than Tarrant and I. As the door closed, there was the sound of someone walking up the stairs. Tarrant looked in the twins' room and stepped inside, looking at me.

"What's wrong?" I whispered, standing and walking to the door.

"You'll never guess who's downstairs." He said, a small smile on his face mixed with confusion.

"Who, Tarrant?"

"Bring the boys down." He said. I sighed, waking up the boys and fixing my hair in their mirror. I held their hands as all three of us walked down the stairs slowly and carefully. I looked to see Tarrant sitting in a chair, looking at the three of us. The woman had her back turned to us, studying a painting I had made and hung up on the wall behind the couch.

Julian sat on the floor, resting against my leg as he tried going to sleep. Damien followed suit. I turned to Tarrant who rushed over, picking up Julian as I picked up Damien, rubbing his back as he tried falling asleep on my shoulder.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" I asked. Damien let out a soft noise, as if to let me know that I was waking him up.

The woman laughed and I instantly remembered. My eyes fluttered with tears as I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I took two steps further, unable to speak a word. She slowly turned around, walking towards me.

"Surely you'd remember your own mother, my dear." She smiled, glancing at Damien and then back to me.

I pulled her into a hug as I began crying onto her shoulder.

"Mother." I said softly. She stroked my hair and broke the hug, looking into my eyes.

"Now, now, we must not cry. Wrinkles do damage on your face." She said. I didn't get it, why was she acting so strange? I turned to Tarrant who looked as confused as I did. He stood up and walked to my side, holding my hand tightly.

"How did you escape the asylum?" I asked, terribly confused.

"They let me out." I turned to Tarrant.

"Alice?"

She perked up and looked at him. "Yes, Hatter?"

"How long do you intend on staying in Underland?"

She looked at her fingers and counted them one by one but gave up.

"Who's keeping count? As long as we're all together, that's the only thing that matters, isn't it," She asked, grinning at us. I watched as her white teeth slowly turned dingy. Her eyes grew red and then bright green. "Isn't it?" Her voice became low and manlike, just like the voice I had heard six years ago.

Tarrant and I turned to each other, screaming to the top of our lungs at what we had to encounter once more.

Chaunce had yet again returned…


	21. The Sequel: Part 1

**[Message to the Reader: Leilani & Tarrant's twins took it upon themselves to help the young Elizabeth rule Marmoreal. Trouble sparks when Iracebeth and Stayne's daughter tries overthrowing her kingdom. Julian is faced with the question: "Help your aunt...or the girl you love."**

**-Please understand that this is the sequel to my story, "The Only Exception".]**

_-Four months before Leilani appeared at Underland-_

_The night was cold and dreary in the land of Crims. The sky was foggy and the land around the Queen's large castle was desolate. No one dared to make any more noise than there had been already. The Queen was greatly disturbed by the heavy footsteps of the guards marching downstairs, preparing for battle. Her little sister, her darling sister, Mirana, wanted war for the crown once again. Iracebeth wouldn't dare share what had "rightfully" been hers. Truth holds it that she was a coward. A coward for stealing the crown after their champion, Alice, had left and decided to never return. Rumors were bound that the champions daughter, Leilani Ascot, should embrace the White Queen and help defeat the Red. This was the reason why they were training. If Alice was capable of chopping off the tongue, and slaying the Jabberwocky, who knows what this girl could do? She was expected any moment now. But that didn't matter to the Red Queen. She wouldn't have to set foot on that battlefield, nor did she have to lift a dainty finger on anyone. She'd sit back, watch, and let Stayne handle all the work. Aha! _

_Stayne…_

_The Queen threw her overly large head back and let out a loud call._

"_Stayne!" She demanded._

_There was a sound of clacking armor and soon the tall man with a scarred face appeared in her bedroom._

"_Yes, my Queen?"_

_She lowered her head at him slowly as a crooked smile approached her lips._

"_Must you make so much noise?"_

"_I'm training the soldiers, just as you asked me to earlier."_

"_It's too much noise. I honestly cannot sleep tonight." She said, rubbing the empty side of her heart-shaped bed slowly._

"_Shall I postpone the training to tomorrow morning after you arise from your slumber?" _

_She shook her head slowly. "That's not what I want." _

_He gulped and looked around the room, brushing his black locks from his face. _

"_Then what is it that you desire?"_

_She thought about it. "You."_

_He backed up towards the door. "I honestly don't understand quite what you mean."_

"_I want you, Stayne. Don't you find me attractive?" She asked, getting off of her bed and walking towards the tall man. He looked down at her in utter detest, unsure how to answer that question. If he said no, she'd kill him. If he said yes, she'd make him do whatever she pleased, even if that meant bedding him tonight._

"_But I thought what you desired was for the noise to decease."_

"_What's another way to drown out said ruckus?" _

_He thought about it. "I'm not too sure about that."_

"_You drown it out with a noise that you make with your own. Besides, I also cannot sleep. What I want to do will drown out the noise as well as make me tired." She said, walking towards him, her chest on his as she ran a single finger down his chest and stopping at his belly button. He grabbed her finger._

"_Yes, of course, we shall make music until the sun comes up!" He said, grabbing the Queen's violin as he began playing awful and offbeat tunes._

"_Stayne stop!"  
_

"_Can you hear them training?"_

"_No but-"_

"_Exactly, so let us make music together." He said as he kicked another violin to her. She walked over, grabbed the violin he was torturing and tossed it out her window. She grabbed Stayne, pulling him into a kiss that he ended quickly with a cough._

"_If you don't succumb to my needs, I'll have your head."_

"_You wouldn't dare."_

"_Oh but I would. Need I remind you of my husbands?"_

_He gulped and shuddered just a little bit as he sat on the bed next to her. _

"_What do you want me to do?" _

_She grinned, cuddling close to him._

"_You already have a hunch, don't you?" She asked. He shook his head, as if not ever wanting to hear the words escape her mouth. She raised up close to his ear, whispering her wants and needs into his ear. His face grew pale at the thought of them doing that together. He stood up and nodded._

"_As you wish." He spoke. The knight went to the bathroom located in the Queen's chambers, putting on a series of colognes and combing his hair a little as he then removed his armor, walking out in all black under garments. A small laugh came from the queen's mouth as he sat on the bed, glaring at her._

"_Don't be shy. Come on over, I don't bite." She taunted. He climbed on the bed with her, sitting straight up, staring at the designs on the bed. He didn't care about those, he just couldn't imagine the traumatic experience that would occur at this very moment._

_**After the Battle: Estimated 4 months later**_

_Stayne dragged Leilani and Adam to the dungeons, tremendously disappointed at how she would betray them like this. _

"_You brat!" he yelled through the gates as he walked off. He saw one of Iracebeth's lady-in-waiting and grabbed her by the collar of her dress. _

"_Where is she?" He demanded._

"_Who do you request?" Asked the already shaken woman._

"_Where is Iracebeth?" he demanded loudly._

"_They took her to the infirmary. She's unconscious." She explained._

_Stayne felt his world come crashing down upon him slowly. He ran through the halls, up numerous stairs and took a series of twists and turns, trying to find the queen._

"_Iracebeth," he yelled loudly. "IRACEBETH!"_

_In all honesty, this was the one time he's cared for the Red Queen in a while, for she was to bear his child in a few months. One blow to the head and a good fall on the floor, that should have done some damage to both the mother and his child. As he came down a hallway that he's never been to before, he saw what he figured was a small child walking past. She was pale yet transparent. She stopped along the halls and looked at him. A ghost…_

"_She's in there." She spoke in a spine tingling echoing voice before disappearing into the atmosphere. Before she disappeared, she pointed to a door, an old wooden door. Stayne carefully walked towards it and hesitated to open the door, for the fear of what he might see._

"_No, this can't be," he said, dropping to his knees. He didn't want the news that his daughter had died. He wasn't sure, but he just worried. He saw the ghost of a small child, what else could that possibly mean? He turned the knob and looked inside, seeing a bunch of surgeons. He could see the large head of the Queen as she lay there. A nurse turned around to him. "Where is my daughter?" he bellowed._

"_You're not allowed in here!" She yelled as she lifted her dress to walk over towards Stayne._

"_I want my daughter!" he yelled. Everyone turned around and looked at him._

"_Well then you'll just have to wait. For now, Knave, you shall NOT be in here." She said, shoving him out of the door, causing him to fall on his backside. He had been shown a secret entry way to the hospital inside of the castle, thanks to the girl._

_Cooperating, he moved to the outside of the infirmary, taking a seat and doing nothing but waiting. He felt sick to his stomach with the thought of never getting a chance to see his daughter, never holding her in his arms. He stood up quickly, clutching his sword as the doctor stepped out towards him._

"_Where is she?" He asked lowly, narrowing his eyes at the short, stout man._

"_The queen is unconscious right now." _

"_NOT HER. My daughter, where is my little Joslyn?"_

_He sighed heavily and held onto his wrist._

"_She's okay, for now, no harm done. But it will be a miracle if she does survive."_

"_So she's okay?" Stayne felt the corners of his mouth twitching._

"_She-" The doctor started before being interrupted by the nurse._

"_Doctor, come quick," she ordered. She glanced up at Stayne and back to the doctor. "It's the baby." She tried whispering. The doctor hurried inside while Stayne sat down hard on the bench. _

_It was hours until the nurse came out, holding something wrapped in pink cloth, walking to the next room. Stayne stood up quickly, shock on his face._

"_Is that my Joslyn?" _

"_I cannot speak of those terms, sir." She said, hurrying off inside. Stayne took two steps towards the door._

"_Knave!" _

_Stayne turned to the doctor and bowed. _

"_Yes, sir?"_

"_Your daughter, she's okay." He smiled, patting the tall man on the hip. Stayne felt chills run up and down his back. He had never worn a real smile upon his face since a few months ago when the announcement had came to him. Yet, his happiness ended when blood curdling screams were heard throughout the castle. An injured soldier came up the stairs and fell to Stayne's feet._

"_Sir!"_

"_Get up, you scoundrel. Tell me, what is wrong? What could possibly pull all of my attention away from my darling daughter?" He asked, walking to the window of the door and peering outside._

"_We're under attack by the White Queen and some kind of smiling cat." _

_Stayne turned around slowly. "What?"_

"_Some men are down. We need your help." _

"_How? What? We defeated some of them earlier. How is this possible?"_

"_We need you!"_

"_You are dismissed." He spoke, sending him on his way as he peered inside, studying his daughter. She was crying, even as the nurse tried rocking her to her calmness. But that wasn't working. Stayne pushed the doors open and walked inside._

"_You cannot be in here."_

"_I know that Joslyn is okay. But you are doing it wrong."_

"_You mean to tell me you've handled a baby before?"_

"_I have not said such a thing, but I wish to try."_

"_What am I doing wrong?" She asked, looking up at the man. He sighed and took his daughter gently from the woman's hands._

"_You must rock her, slowly, and full of meaning and care." He spoke, sitting in the chair and rocking her slowly. When she opened her eyes, his heart melt. She had hazel eyes and brown hair with the oddest thing: Some red strands in it. He bit his lower lip in annoyance but he found that he couldn't help it. She was both his and Iracebeth's daughter as well. There wasn't a doubt that she'd get one of her traits, if not all. She instantly stopped crying and looked up at her father._

"_My daughter, my sweet Joslyn…Princess Joslyn. I will take care of her, even if the Queen is incapable. I will make sure she heirs her mother's throne when older." _

_The soldier came inside and spotted the child, looking at him confusingly._

"_Knave, we need you."_

"_I shall come down, now." He spoke. He knew that if he were to go down there, unprepared to battle, he could lose his life. He stood up, walking to the nurse and handing her back his daughter. His heart shattered as he left her in her arms, hearing her begin crying once more._

"_Good luck." Said the nurse breathlessly. _

"_I'll be back for my daughter." He assured her._

"_What if you aren't capable of handling a child?"_

_He felt like shouting out at why she had to be so sinister and pessimistic. But he kept calm, for the sake of his daughter._

"_Just…keep her safe." He said before walking out of the infirmary. He stomped hard against the floor, unable to understand how he'd have to leave such a precious creature in the arms of that stubborn woman. He felt like betraying them all and staying, running away and keeping her safe. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. For the sake of Crims he couldn't do that. _


	22. The Sequel: Part 2

**[Message to the Reader: Leilani & Tarrant's twins took it upon themselves to help the young Elizabeth rule Marmoreal. Trouble sparks when Iracebeth and Stayne's daughter tries overthrowing her kingdom. Julian is faced with the question: "Help your aunt...or the girl you love."**

**-Please understand that this is the sequel to my story, "The Only Exception".]**

_-Four months before Leilani appeared at Underland-_

_The night was cold and dreary in the land of Crims. The sky was foggy and the land around the Queen's large castle was desolate. No one dared to make any more noise than there had been already. The Queen was greatly disturbed by the heavy footsteps of the guards marching downstairs, preparing for battle. Her little sister, her darling sister, Mirana, wanted war for the crown once again. Iracebeth wouldn't dare share what had "rightfully" been hers. Truth holds it that she was a coward. A coward for stealing the crown after their champion, Alice, had left and decided to never return. Rumors were bound that the champions daughter, Leilani Ascot, should embrace the White Queen and help defeat the Red. This was the reason why they were training. If Alice was capable of chopping off the tongue, and slaying the Jabberwocky, who knows what this girl could do? She was expected any moment now. But that didn't matter to the Red Queen. She wouldn't have to set foot on that battlefield, nor did she have to lift a dainty finger on anyone. She'd sit back, watch, and let Stayne handle all the work. Aha! _

_Stayne…_

_The Queen threw her overly large head back and let out a loud call._

"_Stayne!" She demanded._

_There was a sound of clacking armor and soon the tall man with a scarred face appeared in her bedroom._

"_Yes, my Queen?"_

_She lowered her head at him slowly as a crooked smile approached her lips._

"_Must you make so much noise?"_

"_I'm training the soldiers, just as you asked me to earlier."_

"_It's too much noise. I honestly cannot sleep tonight." She said, rubbing the empty side of her heart-shaped bed slowly._

"_Shall I postpone the training to tomorrow morning after you arise from your slumber?" _

_She shook her head slowly. "That's not what I want." _

_He gulped and looked around the room, brushing his black locks from his face. _

"_Then what is it that you desire?"_

_She thought about it. "You."_

_He backed up towards the door. "I honestly don't understand quite what you mean."_

"_I want you, Stayne. Don't you find me attractive?" She asked, getting off of her bed and walking towards the tall man. He looked down at her in utter detest, unsure how to answer that question. If he said no, she'd kill him. If he said yes, she'd make him do whatever she pleased, even if that meant bedding him tonight._

"_But I thought what you desired was for the noise to decease."_

"_What's another way to drown out said ruckus?" _

_He thought about it. "I'm not too sure about that."_

"_You drown it out with a noise that you make with your own. Besides, I also cannot sleep. What I want to do will drown out the noise as well as make me tired." She said, walking towards him, her chest on his as she ran a single finger down his chest and stopping at his belly button. He grabbed her finger._

"_Yes, of course, we shall make music until the sun comes up!" He said, grabbing the Queen's violin as he began playing awful and offbeat tunes._

"_Stayne stop!"  
_

"_Can you hear them training?"_

"_No but-"_

"_Exactly, so let us make music together." He said as he kicked another violin to her. She walked over, grabbed the violin he was torturing and tossed it out her window. She grabbed Stayne, pulling him into a kiss that he ended quickly with a cough._

"_If you don't succumb to my needs, I'll have your head."_

"_You wouldn't dare."_

"_Oh but I would. Need I remind you of my husbands?"_

_He gulped and shuddered just a little bit as he sat on the bed next to her. _

"_What do you want me to do?" _

_She grinned, cuddling close to him._

"_You already have a hunch, don't you?" She asked. He shook his head, as if not ever wanting to hear the words escape her mouth. She raised up close to his ear, whispering her wants and needs into his ear. His face grew pale at the thought of them doing that together. He stood up and nodded._

"_As you wish." He spoke. The knight went to the bathroom located in the Queen's chambers, putting on a series of colognes and combing his hair a little as he then removed his armor, walking out in all black under garments. A small laugh came from the queen's mouth as he sat on the bed, glaring at her._

"_Don't be shy. Come on over, I don't bite." She taunted. He climbed on the bed with her, sitting straight up, staring at the designs on the bed. He didn't care about those, he just couldn't imagine the traumatic experience that would occur at this very moment._

_**After the Battle: Estimated 4 months later**_

_Stayne dragged Leilani and Adam to the dungeons, tremendously disappointed at how she would betray them like this. _

"_You brat!" he yelled through the gates as he walked off. He saw one of Iracebeth's lady-in-waiting and grabbed her by the collar of her dress. _

"_Where is she?" He demanded._

"_Who do you request?" Asked the already shaken woman._

"_Where is Iracebeth?" he demanded loudly._

"_They took her to the infirmary. She's unconscious." She explained._

_Stayne felt his world come crashing down upon him slowly. He ran through the halls, up numerous stairs and took a series of twists and turns, trying to find the queen._

"_Iracebeth," he yelled loudly. "IRACEBETH!"_

_In all honesty, this was the one time he's cared for the Red Queen in a while, for she was to bear his child in a few months. One blow to the head and a good fall on the floor, that should have done some damage to both the mother and his child. As he came down a hallway that he's never been to before, he saw what he figured was a small child walking past. She was pale yet transparent. She stopped along the halls and looked at him. A ghost…_

"_She's in there." She spoke in a spine tingling echoing voice before disappearing into the atmosphere. Before she disappeared, she pointed to a door, an old wooden door. Stayne carefully walked towards it and hesitated to open the door, for the fear of what he might see._

"_No, this can't be," he said, dropping to his knees. He didn't want the news that his daughter had died. He wasn't sure, but he just worried. He saw the ghost of a small child, what else could that possibly mean? He turned the knob and looked inside, seeing a bunch of surgeons. He could see the large head of the Queen as she lay there. A nurse turned around to him. "Where is my daughter?" he bellowed._

"_You're not allowed in here!" She yelled as she lifted her dress to walk over towards Stayne._

"_I want my daughter!" he yelled. Everyone turned around and looked at him._

"_Well then you'll just have to wait. For now, Knave, you shall NOT be in here." She said, shoving him out of the door, causing him to fall on his backside. He had been shown a secret entry way to the hospital inside of the castle, thanks to the girl._

_Cooperating, he moved to the outside of the infirmary, taking a seat and doing nothing but waiting. He felt sick to his stomach with the thought of never getting a chance to see his daughter, never holding her in his arms. He stood up quickly, clutching his sword as the doctor stepped out towards him._

"_Where is she?" He asked lowly, narrowing his eyes at the short, stout man._

"_The queen is unconscious right now." _

"_NOT HER. My daughter, where is my little Joslyn?"_

_He sighed heavily and held onto his wrist._

"_She's okay, for now, no harm done. But it will be a miracle if she does survive."_

"_So she's okay?" Stayne felt the corners of his mouth twitching._

"_She-" The doctor started before being interrupted by the nurse._

"_Doctor, come quick," she ordered. She glanced up at Stayne and back to the doctor. "It's the baby." She tried whispering. The doctor hurried inside while Stayne sat down hard on the bench. _

_It was hours until the nurse came out, holding something wrapped in pink cloth, walking to the next room. Stayne stood up quickly, shock on his face._

"_Is that my Joslyn?" _

"_I cannot speak of those terms, sir." She said, hurrying off inside. Stayne took two steps towards the door._

"_Knave!" _

_Stayne turned to the doctor and bowed. _

"_Yes, sir?"_

"_Your daughter, she's okay." He smiled, patting the tall man on the hip. Stayne felt chills run up and down his back. He had never worn a real smile upon his face since a few months ago when the announcement had came to him. Yet, his happiness ended when blood curdling screams were heard throughout the castle. An injured soldier came up the stairs and fell to Stayne's feet._

"_Sir!"_

"_Get up, you scoundrel. Tell me, what is wrong? What could possibly pull all of my attention away from my darling daughter?" He asked, walking to the window of the door and peering outside._

"_We're under attack by the White Queen and some kind of smiling cat." _

_Stayne turned around slowly. "What?"_

"_Some men are down. We need your help." _

"_How? What? We defeated some of them earlier. How is this possible?"_

"_We need you!"_

"_You are dismissed." He spoke, sending him on his way as he peered inside, studying his daughter. She was crying, even as the nurse tried rocking her to her calmness. But that wasn't working. Stayne pushed the doors open and walked inside._

"_You cannot be in here."_

"_I know that Joslyn is okay. But you are doing it wrong."_

"_You mean to tell me you've handled a baby before?"_

"_I have not said such a thing, but I wish to try."_

"_What am I doing wrong?" She asked, looking up at the man. He sighed and took his daughter gently from the woman's hands._

"_You must rock her, slowly, and full of meaning and care." He spoke, sitting in the chair and rocking her slowly. When she opened her eyes, his heart melt. She had hazel eyes and brown hair with the oddest thing: Some red strands in it. He bit his lower lip in annoyance but he found that he couldn't help it. She was both his and Iracebeth's daughter as well. There wasn't a doubt that she'd get one of her traits, if not all. She instantly stopped crying and looked up at her father._

"_My daughter, my sweet Joslyn…Princess Joslyn. I will take care of her, even if the Queen is incapable. I will make sure she heirs her mother's throne when older." _

_The soldier came inside and spotted the child, looking at him confusingly._

"_Knave, we need you."_

"_I shall come down, now." He spoke. He knew that if he were to go down there, unprepared to battle, he could lose his life. He stood up, walking to the nurse and handing her back his daughter. His heart shattered as he left her in her arms, hearing her begin crying once more._

"_Good luck." Said the nurse breathlessly. _

"_I'll be back for my daughter." He assured her._

"_What if you aren't capable of handling a child?"_

_He felt like shouting out at why she had to be so sinister and pessimistic. But he kept calm, for the sake of his daughter._

"_Just…keep her safe." He said before walking out of the infirmary. He stomped hard against the floor, unable to understand how he'd have to leave such a precious creature in the arms of that stubborn woman. He felt like betraying them all and staying, running away and keeping her safe. But he couldn't, he just couldn't. For the sake of Crims he couldn't do that. _


End file.
